Biography

I studied and taught history at the University of Hull and was awarded a PHD in 1997. I went on to a successful career in heritage and have worked for a range of historic properties and national heritage organisations, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Archives and English Heritage. I am now Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust, a charity that encourages children to visit and learn from historic properties through the Sandford Award scheme. I am also joint Chief Curator for Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that manages Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, the Banqueting House, Whitehall and Hillsborough Castle. In July 2022, I was nominated Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln. In 2024, I was awarded an OBE for services to heritage in the King’s Birthday Honours.

I often appear on television and radio, and I am a regular contributor to history magazines, notably BBC History. I give talks on my books across the country.  Click here for my latest programme of events.

I am proud to be a trustee of The Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust, an Ambassador for The National Archives, as well as a Patron of Lavenham Library, the Friends of Marble Hill House and the Chalke Valley History Festival, and Patron (Historical) of the Vectis Archaeological Trust. In 2017 I was awarded an honorary degree (DLit) from the University of Hull; in 2020 I was made an Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen Mary University of London; and in 2021 I was made an Honorary Professor at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln. I am also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.