Strawberry Hill After Dark: Walpole, Wolsey and the World Beyond
An exclusive after-hours series combining candlelit exhibition viewing, drinks, and talks by leading experts.
From November 2025 to February 2026, Strawberry Hill House opens its doors after hours for a special programme of expert talks connected to Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger: From the Tudor Court to the Victorian Stage.
Friday 21st November 2025 – Strawberry Hill After Dark: Walpole, Wolsey and the World Beyond
Arrive from 6.00pm to enjoy a rosewater spritz — a delicate nod to Ottoman courtly flavours — and explore the landmark exhibition in the hush of Walpole’s candlelit castle. In the Tribune, encounter two dazzling sixteenth-century Ottoman daggers reunited for the first time. Continue into the Great North Bedchamber to discover how Victorian actor Charles Kean reimagined Walpole’s dagger for the stage.
At 7.00pm, gather in the Long Gallery for an expert talk on Walpole, Wolsey and the World Beyond, with Prof. Glenn Richardson (St Mary’s University), exploring Walpole’s internationalist outlook and how it compared with Cardinal Wolsey’s vision of England’s place in the world.
Tickets: Standard £25 | Students £17.50
(Includes rosewater spritz, exhibition entry, and lecture.)
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Glenn Richardson is Professor of Early Modern History in the School of Arts and Theology at St Mary’s University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and is an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association. He is President of the Society for Court Studies, established in 1997 to study the history of royal and princely courts. Its journal, The Court Historian, is published twice yearly.
Glenn has published extensively on Tudor England's political and cultural relations with Continental Europe and on aspects of European Renaissance monarchy. He is the author of Francis I (2025) a biography of the sixteenth-century king of France, and Renaissance Monarchs at War: The Battle of Pavia 1525 (2025). In addition to journal articles and chapters in edited collections, his other books are: The Field of Cloth of Gold (2013 and 2020); 'The Contending Kingdoms': France and England 1420-1700 (2008); Renaissance Monarchy: The Reigns of Henry VIII, Francis I and Charles V (2002) and Tudor England and its Neighbours [co-edited with Susan Doran] (2005).
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An exclusive after-hours series combining candlelit exhibition viewing, drinks, and talks by leading experts.
From November 2025 to February 2026, Strawberry Hill House opens its doors after hours for a special programme of expert talks connected to Henry VIII’s Lost Dagger: From the Tudor Court to the Victorian Stage.
Friday 21st November 2025 – Strawberry Hill After Dark: Walpole, Wolsey and the World Beyond
Arrive from 6.00pm to enjoy a rosewater spritz — a delicate nod to Ottoman courtly flavours — and explore the landmark exhibition in the hush of Walpole’s candlelit castle. In the Tribune, encounter two dazzling sixteenth-century Ottoman daggers reunited for the first time. Continue into the Great North Bedchamber to discover how Victorian actor Charles Kean reimagined Walpole’s dagger for the stage.
At 7.00pm, gather in the Long Gallery for an expert talk on Walpole, Wolsey and the World Beyond, with Prof. Glenn Richardson (St Mary’s University), exploring Walpole’s internationalist outlook and how it compared with Cardinal Wolsey’s vision of England’s place in the world.
Tickets: Standard £25 | Students £17.50
(Includes rosewater spritz, exhibition entry, and lecture.)
----
Glenn Richardson is Professor of Early Modern History in the School of Arts and Theology at St Mary’s University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and is an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association. He is President of the Society for Court Studies, established in 1997 to study the history of royal and princely courts. Its journal, The Court Historian, is published twice yearly.
Glenn has published extensively on Tudor England's political and cultural relations with Continental Europe and on aspects of European Renaissance monarchy. He is the author of Francis I (2025) a biography of the sixteenth-century king of France, and Renaissance Monarchs at War: The Battle of Pavia 1525 (2025). In addition to journal articles and chapters in edited collections, his other books are: The Field of Cloth of Gold (2013 and 2020); 'The Contending Kingdoms': France and England 1420-1700 (2008); Renaissance Monarchy: The Reigns of Henry VIII, Francis I and Charles V (2002) and Tudor England and its Neighbours [co-edited with Susan Doran] (2005).
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