Season 2 of Past Matters ends on a gruesome note with Ben Paites, Collections and Learning Curator at Colchester & Ipswich Museums, discussing the history of the prisons at Colchester Castle. Not for the squeamish this episode covers prison conditions, witch burnings and the over zealous pursuit of justice.

In this episode, I talk to Jo Hatton, Keeper of the Natural History Collection at the Horniman Museum & Gardens in South London. She picked a pair of taxidermied huia birds from the collection as her underrated objects.

For this episode, I revisit a museum featured in season 1 – Ipswich Museum. This time, Tim Rousham from the visitor services team at the museum discusses two pattern-welded swords from the 9th century AD. Tune in to this episode to learn more about designing beautiful and effective swords and how their shape changed over time and why.

When you’re asked to imagine an iconic item of clothing the humble smock probably doesn’t come to mind. However, in this episode, Dr Ollie Douglas, Curator at The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL), convinces me as to the importance of the smock to English identity.

In this episode, Zofia Matyjaszkiewicz, who is the Collections Assistant at the Roman Baths in Bath, tells me why a patera – a shallow libation bowl – is her underrated object at this world-famous site.

While the previous episode of Past Matters reminded listeners to look down when visiting historic houses, in a pleasing symmetry, this episode reminds them to look up.

This episode of Past Matters should encourage visitors to England’s finest stately homes to look down as well as up for future visits, as Assistant Curator and Archivist at Harewood House, Becky Burton, describes the significance of a grand Axminster carpet for social standing.