Rupert Willoughby
Rupert Willoughby is an historian and Classicist, a lecturer on the national circuit, a poet, a father and a committed outdoor swimmer with a passion for castles, lakes and uncovering the layers of the past.
A graduate with First Class Honours in History from the University of London (where he immersed himself in the ‘Byzantine’, or medieval Greek Empire), he is the author of the best-selling Life in Medieval England for Pitkin, of guides to castles owned by English Heritage and Hampshire County Council, and of a series of popular histories of places, including Chawton: Jane Austen’s Village, Selborne: Gilbert White’s Village, Sherborne St John and the Vyne in the Time of Jane Austen, Reading and its Contribution to World Culture – described as an antidote to the vulgarity of modern Reading; and the companion volume – perhaps his greatest challenge to date – Basingstoke and its Contribution to World Culture.
Rupert is also an itinerant Classics master and has taught in a series of prestigious prep schools, including Ludgrove, Arnold House, Thomas’s Kensington, St Paul’s Cathedral School, Summer Fields and Elstree.
He has published numerous articles, contributes regular obituaries to The Daily Telegraph, undertakes private research commissions, occasionally broadcasts to the nation and is an experienced lecturer (accredited to The Arts Society), with an extensive practice both at home and abroad.
Rupert’s forefathers were Vikings and his foremothers were Tatars. He is based in London and on the Hampshire-Berkshire border, midway between Reading and Basingstoke.
Rupert at Aros Castle, Isle of Mull. It was built by his ancestors, the MacDougalls of Lorn