Lecture
Londoners in Henley before the Black Death
Speaker: Peter Brown
Tue, 7 Jan 2025
About the lecture:
Seven hundred years ago in 1325, as the Old Bell (as it was later known) began to be built, Henley was already an important town. Because of its position on the river, it was an entrepôt for corn, mainly wheat and barley, which was bought by cart from remote villages and transported by barge to fast-growing London. As a result, Londoners bought granaries and shops in the town. With the help of an imaginary river trip, this talk will ask how the grain trade worked, who were these second-home buyers – and what, if anything, did they do for Henley?
Peter Brown was raised and educated in Henley from the age of seven. He began his journalistic career as a reporter on the Henley Standard, going on to serve many years on The Times and then, as a freelance, The Independent. In retirement, he took a history Masters in Medieval London and has published articles on the medieval Glovers’ company and Chaucer’s London. Now aged 76, married, and a grandfather, he lives in south London.