This week’s midweek episode explores the deeper history of Valentine’s Day in Britain, long before cards, chocolates and commercial traditions took hold.
We start with the origins of Saint Valentine, the Christian martyr whose execution on 14 February shaped the feast day, and trace how the meaning evolved through the Middle Ages. By the time of Chaucer and the Tudor court, Valentine’s Day had become tied to courtship, symbolism, alliances and royal culture, with jewellery, posy rings and personal tokens exchanged as part of carefully staged rituals of affection and status.
These are exactly the kinds of personal objects that sometimes survive in the soil and end up rediscovered centuries later by metal detectorists.
The episode then turns to the other side of 14 February in British history, the death of Captain James Cook in 1779. From his beginnings on Whitby coal ships to his voyages with HMS Resolution and his role in charting the Pacific, Cook’s life represents both scientific exploration and the expansion of empire.
His death in Hawaii highlights the tensions, misunderstandings and cultural collisions that often accompanied exploration, and the complex legacy he left behind.
Together, these two stories show how a single date can hold multiple meanings in British history: love and power, exploration and conflict, personal objects and global movement — all leaving traces that still shape what ends up in the ground today.
Happy Valentines!
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