History
History
History tells stories about people, places and things to help explain to young people of any age why the world is as it is as they grow up and begin to question it.
Schools will choose different periods and settings and topics to cove during different Key Stages, but all of them are pretty well guaranteed to be rooted in actual places that can be visited, explored and enjoyed.
It has been a curious fact that for many years primary classes have studied the Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, while secondary school syllabuses have been more engaged in post-medieval periods. For a while secondary courses involved a great deal of ‘topic work’. While this discipline still exists, the recent examination syllabuses have returned to an emphasis on historical periods and links.
But all periods and topics provide fantastic opportunities for school visits. We are so lucky that so many general and specialist museums and visitor centres exist in the UK. The problem is not a shortage of possibilities but how one sifts through the available opportunities to make choices.
The Historical Association website carries information about course, conferences, study tours, and the Association has published ‘The Historian’ magazine for many years. Handsam is also happy to help, please contact us on 03332 070737 or email [email protected].
Most venues will have teaching materials and activities geared to students’ different ages and aptitudes whether at primary or secondary level. All of them will set out to develop students’ ability to understand, analyse and evaluate key features and characteristics of historical periods and events studied.
Some venues will be easy to identify because they fit neatly with the period and topic being studied but others may offer new possibilities, not least to the teachers themselves. Teachers need and deserve their own stimulation.
Over the next four years there will be an upsurge in visits to the First World War battlefields. Because of this there will be an increase in companies offering visits and requirement for battlefield guides, especially in northern France and Belgium. There are bound to be discrepancies in guides’ knowledge and experience. Close research into the credentials of the company you are contracting with, and the company’s guarantees about guides, will ensure that your group will not be disappointed.
Main organisations:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
Roman Vindolanda and Roman Army Museum at Hadrian’s Wall
Viriconium, Wroxeter, Shropshire
The Jorvik Viking Centre, York
Offa’s Dyke Trail and Chirk Castle
The National Trust for Scotland
Clan Donald Visitor Centre, Isle of Skye
Bosworth Battlefield Visitor Centre
Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
Exeter Cathedral Education Centre
The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
The Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth
East Anglia Railway Museum, Colchester
The National Tramway Museum, Matlock
Venues for this Curriculum
Discover what a Bristol sugar plantation and slave owner’s home might have looked like around 1790. Eleven rooms spread over four floors reveal what life was like above and below stairs, from the kitchen in the basement where servants prepared meals to the elegant formal rooms above. Free entry.
St John's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Portsmouth. It was opened in 1882 and is the first cathedral to have been built in Portsmouth.
Leeds Cathedral is one of the finest Catholic Cathedrals in England.
Saint Anne's Cathedral is situated in the heart of the Leeds city centre and contrasts with the surrounding new office blocks and the Victorian Town Hall.
This unique collection interprets the rich architectural history of Bath and the men who transformed a provincial town into the world famous Georgian Spa. It demonstrates how classical design influenced the buildings and illustrates the construction of a house from the cellars to the rafters.
We cater for Key Stages 1 to 4.
Manchester Cathedral is a rich educational resource in the heart of a vibrant city. Learning is brought to life in this vivid, historic and spiritual context where Christian worship has taken place for over 1000 years. Come and discover the potential of this amazing living building!
Set in beautiful parkland the Museum and Art Gallery has something for everyone. Alongside our temporary exhibitions programme we have galleries depicting the rich and diverse history of the area using our amazing collections.
Two Bronze Age communal burial cairns of Scillonian type, with fine views. The upper cairn is the best preserved on the islands.
The chambered tombs or entrance graves at Innisidgen are two fine examples of the Bronze Age (around 2500–750 BC) ceremonial monuments built on hilltops and coastal plateaux on the Isles of Scilly.
Two richly carved pieces of a 9th century 'Celtic' cross, with an inscription commemorating Dumgarth, British King of Dumnonia, who drowned in about AD 875.
These two fragments, one of which is known as King Doniert’s Stone, are the only surviving examples of 9th century stone crosses in Cornwall.
Since the building of the Cathedral was commenced in 1840, thirteen primates, including seven cardinals, have each contributed in his own way to its history.Its commanding site overlooking the City gives it an enduring presence, a reminder to each generation of the sacrifices of those who have gone before.The now restored building is a further realisation
A small early Bronze Age stone circle traditionally believed to depict nine ladies turned to stone as a penalty for dancing on Sunday. It is part of a complex of prehistoric circles and standing stones on Stanton Moor.
Charnwood Museum features a wide range of exhibits reflecting the history, geology, archaeology and industries of Charnwood and the surrounding area. Permanent displays include ‘Coming to Charnwood’, ‘The Natural World of Charnwood’, ‘Living off the Land’ and ‘Earning a Living’.
A treasure chest of history, telling the story of a fishing and trading port that became a fashionable resort
The museum features the geology and prehistory of the area, maritime and piracy, a local history gallery and the Story of Tenby Gallery as well as two art galleries, one featuring the permanent collection, the second exhibiting changing temporary exhibitions.
Explore the amazingly vast history of South Tyneside, come face to face with exotic snakes, spiders and lizards and admire fantastic works of art at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery.
This well-preserved and impressive Neolithic 'dolmen' burial chamber stands 2.7 metres (8.9 ft) high. There are five standing stones, surmounted by a huge capstone.
Trethevy Quoit is a particularly well-preserved example of a portal dolmen, a type of monument once common in Cornwall and dating to the early or middle part of the Neolithic period, around 3500–2500 BC.
Now in a wooded glade, this small prehistoric circle of nine standing stones was constructed around 4,000 years ago. Winterbourne Poor Lot Barrows are nearby.
Lying in a wooded glade just yards from the busy A35, this little stone circle resembles a huddle of ancient conspirators, lurking in the trees.
There's so much to do at the newly refurbished Manchester Central Library:
The remains of four 13th century stone farmsteads, on land originally farmed in the Bronze Age.
This isolated Dartmoor hamlet was probably abandoned in the early 15th century.
The fine remains of this abandoned and isolated settlement lie on the eastern edge of Dartmoor, between the granite landmarks of Hound Tor and Greator Rocks.
Set like a lakeside temple in a landscaped park, The Grange at Northington is the foremost example of the Greek Revival style in England. Created between 1804 and 1809 when William Wilkins encased an earlier house in Classical facades, most strikingly the temple front supported on eight gigantic columns.
This picturesque castle set in Calshot, a coastal village in Southampton, Hampshire, England. This beautiful village provides a perfect relaxing family day out by the coast.
This artillery fort, built by Henry VIII to defend the sea passage to Southampton, was recently used as a Navy and RAF base.
Among the best preserved ancient villages in the south west, occupied from the Iron Age until late Roman times. It includes the foundations of stone houses, and an intriguing 'fogou' underground passage.
Archaeology
An Iron Age hillfort with impressive ramparts, now surrounded by woodland.
Blackbury Camp, or Castle, is one of many similar sites across southern Britain dating from the period known as the Iron Age (from about 800 BC to the 1st century AD).
Built in 1877, this restored six storey mill with complete gear, sails and fantail still works today. The award-winning tearoom sells produce made from the mill's organic, stone-ground flour.
The Museum is housed in Fleckney Centre also known as Fleckney Library; the building was formerly the village school. The Library is located in the centre of the village opposite the duck pond and chicane. There is on-site parking and also a public car park close by (60yds).
Admission is free!
In a spectacular cliff-edge position, this unique Bronze Age tomb had a long and complex history as a sacred site.
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