Medieval warhorses ‘no bigger than modern ponies’

And other stories from the stranger side of life

Dartmoor ponies
Some owners are abandoning horses to avoid paying vet bills
(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty)

A study has found that medieval warhorses were no bigger than modern-day ponies. Archaeologists and historians examined the bones of about 2,000 horses dating from the fourth to 17th centuries, as well as combing historical records and fictional stories. “It turns out that things are not quite as they have usually been portrayed,” said Professor Alan Outram of the University of Exeter’s archaeology department. “Most medieval horses are surprisingly small.”

Card arrives addressed to ‘Bishop and sexy wife’

A Church of England bishop was surprised when Royal Mail delivered a card addressed to “The Lord Bishop and his sexy wife”. Dr John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester, said: “It was from someone I know and when they asked my address, I said ‘just send it to the Bishop of Worcester and his sexy wife’. I wasn’t expecting the instructions to be followed. I was very impressed by Royal Mail when the letter arrived.”

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Roman dual carriageway unearthed

A Roman “dual carriageway” has been discovered by archaeologists along with the remains of an ancient British boom town. Excavation work for HS2 uncovered the remains of a 26-acre settlement near Chipping Warden in Northamptonshire, which reveals signs of town planning in Britain more than 1,700 years ago. Jim McKeon, the Museum of London Archaeology project manager, said the evidence showed “clever town planning” by locals.

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Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.