thurley married secondly anna keay (born 1974), a fellow historian, in february 2008. she was the properties presentation director for english heritage from 2002 to 2011, and is now director of the landmark trust. they had known each other for about 15 years, but got to know each other better when they worked on a documentary called "the buildings that shaped britain" for channel 5 in 2006. they live in london and a medieval merchant's house in king's lynn, norfolk, and have two children.