HISTORIC OUTINGS
DYRHAM PARK Gloucestershire
The National Trust’s unlocking of the interiors of its properties this week (though not until May 24 in Northern Ireland) has been a case of perfect timing for the 17th-century stately home Dyrham Park (0117 937 2501; nationaltrust.org.uk; £8). Eight miles from Bath, it has appeared on screen in the BBC’s latest Sunday-night drama The Pursuit Of Love – its Gilt Leather Parlour and Great Hall hosting two of the Mitford sisters’ grandiose balls.
THE BRITISH MUSEUM London
The British Museum (020 7323 8000; britishmuseum.org) has stepped out of the cobwebs with Thomas Becket: Murder and the Making of a Saint (£17). The exhibition takes a detailed look at the causes and consequences of the assassination of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 850 (and a bit) years after it shook the medieval world (in December 1170). This atrocity is still not forgotten 60 miles away in Kent – where the death site is marked by a small altar, in Canterbury Cathedral (01227 762862; canterbury-cathedral.org; £14).
CHESTER CATHEDRAL Cheshire
Largely 13th and 14th century in structure, Chester Cathedral (01244 324756; chestercathedral.com) will also be attempting to draw visitors back into its nave – but in a less blood-splattered fashion. As of July 17 (through to September 3), the cathedral will play host to a model railway version of the West Coast Mainline, complete with steam locomotives.