Forget fairy lights and tinsel, Tudor Christmas decorations were deeply symbolic, richly traditional, and filled with myth and meaning.

Hello, I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and welcome to Day 7 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series!
Today, we’re stepping inside the Tudor home to discover how people really decorated for Christmas.

In Tudor England, there were no Christmas trees, no early December decorating…
In fact, a Tudor walking into your home right now would think you’d gone completely mad, because they only decorated on Christmas Eve.

Instead of baubles and glitter, their homes were filled with:
- Holly – symbol of Christ’s sacrifice & protection
- Ivy – representing fidelity and strength
- Laurel & rosemary – symbols of eternal life
- Evergreens everywhere, bel ...