By Leah Astbury. Amidst the swirling panic about a surge in bedbug infestations in France and the UK, and the various articles instructing worried travellers on how to prevent or get rid of the insects, have you ever wondered how people dealt with these pesty critters...

By Holly Fletcher.  Light is one of the most important external factors to affect sleep. It is known to regulate the body’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock which tells us when to be alert and when to rest, and to affect the production of the sleep-promoting...

In March 2023, Leah Astbury, Holly Fletcher and Lucy Elliott travelled to the USA for the project. While there they visited a range of archives and museums, hunting down materials relating to sleep. They also attended two major conferences, The Renaissance Society of...

Since my last blog post, I have been working hard at Ordsall Hall on a series of workshops aimed at general visitors, adult learners, and school children. These all explore the connections between sleep practices, health, climate, and landscape in the past and today....

In celebration of World Sleep Day, we’re reflecting on the progress of our research project Sleeping Well in the Early Modern World, and some of the exciting sleep-based activities happening with our partner Ordsall Hall. We are also excited to announce the launch of...

Every January, Ordsall Hall celebrates Twelfth Night with the blessing of the apple trees in the orchard. This date would have been 5th January before the English calendar changed in 1752. At Christmas it was traditional to celebrate festivities with wassail, a spiced...

On Monday 31st October the Sleeping Well in the Early Modern World team from the University of Manchester met visitors in the bedchamber at Ordsall Hall to discuss the history of Halloween and how night-time fears affected sleep at this scary time of year. Visitors of...

My name’s Anna and for the next two years I’ll be working closely with the Sleeping Well in the Early Modern World team at the University of Manchester and staff, volunteers, and visitors at Ordsall Hall in Salford. It’s my job to take the research from the University...

In the next instalment of our mini-series ‘Materials of Sleep’, Dr Holly Fletcher explores the role of plant 'down' in the bedding materials of early modern England and early America. Beds, mattresses, pillows and quilts were filled with a variety of stuffing...

In this latest instalment of our mini-series ‘Materials of Sleep’, Professor Sasha Handley explores the importance of hemp and flax in the production of bedding materials in early modern England and early America. Hemp (Cannabis) and flax (Linus usitatissimum) were...