Beautifully set in a valley landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown in the 18th Century. Roche Abbey has one of the most complete ground plans of any English Cistercian monastery, laid out as excavated foundations.
Guided Tour
Guided Tour
What is it?
A guided tour is the practice of an individual leading a group of people around a point of interest and giving them information about it, which can cover topics such as religious significance, cultural history and how it relates to other locations and events in history.
What does it involve?
Attending a guided tour basically just involves paying attention! All the work is done for you in finding out the facts and presenting them in an interesting manner; the role of the participant just calls for a level of interest in your surroundings and an eagerness to learn!
Why do it and what are the benefits?
Tour guides can be extremely educational - physically interacting with the place while learning about its history will provide a different kind of academic experience to the classroom by giving the students something more tangible to focus on.
What equipment do we need?
You shouldn't need any equipment for a guided tour, but check beforehand to make sure; some tours involve their participants even further by getting them to write down their own thoughts, or make drawings - so you may need to ensure students have something to write on!
Who is it suitable for?
Guided Tours are suitable for pretty much anybody if you pick the right one - smaller children will find it harder to focus on more complex subjects and will need more visual aids, but if they are engaged correctly they will have a great time! Likewise, teenage students will get bored if the subject isn't engaging enough, so make sure to choose the tour appropriate for the age and interests of the group.
Costs?
Around £20 or less per person, but it can vary greatly depending on the location of the tour - for example, a minibus tour around a park will cost more than a short walk around a country manor! Make sure to shop around to get an idea of the prices in your area.
Issues/Things to think about? (unsuitable for age groups, medical conditions etc)
A guided tour should be suitable for all ages, but students with condtions such has ADHD may have trouble focusing for an extended period of time - make sure to be aware of the specific needs of your group.
How do we include?
Many guided tours have disabled access for those with limited physical movement, but it would be wise to doublecheck beforehand. Those who are deaf and blind can also be included in guided tours but may need more specialist staff - again, you will need to check with the specific establishments.
Doing it abroad?
There are points of public interest all around the world, so wherever you can find something well known chances are there will be a guided tour available! Foreign tours may be conducted in another language though, so make sure to confirm the specifications of the tour before booking it.
Main website:
This website gives a good overview of places where you can go for a tour guide, but you're best looking at the specific areas around you to find out details!
Venues with this Activity
This remote and dramatically-sited fort was founded under Hadrian's rule in the 2nd century.
Well-marked remains include the headquarters building, commandant's house and bath house. The site of the parade ground survives beside the fort, and the road which Hardknott guarded can be traced for some distance as an earthwork.
The only surviving monastic fishery building in England, this housed the Abbot of Glastonbury's water bailiff and provided facilities for fish-salting and drying.
Medieval courthouse
The courthouse is a fine example of an early 15th-century timber-frame construction, set in an idyllic village. The ground floor (now tenanted) was the village poor house. You can visit an exhibition on the village in this property. Please note, there are very steep stairs.
This unique museum is situated in Nay, between Lourdes and Pau, in the heart of the Bearn.
It gives an insight into the history of beret manufacturing, from the earliest times to the present day.
Lindisfarne is a delightful, unspoiled, historic island lies just off the extreme Northeast corner of England near Berwick-upon-Tweed. The small population of just over 160 persons is swelled by the influx of over 650,000 visitors from all over the world every year.
Rescued by English Heritage after years of neglect, this Grade I listed barn ranks alongside the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey for its exceptional architectural and historic interest. It was dubbed by the late poet laureate and heritage campaigner Sir John Betjeman as the "Cathedral of Middlesex".
One of the UK's first stone-built churches, St. Peter’s, built on land given by King Ecgfrith to St. Benedict Biscop in 673 AD, is the earlier of the twin site (along with St Paul's Monastery, Jarrow.) to come to life.
The Medieval Merchant's House is tucked away within walking distance from the busy city centre. Escape from city life and take in the history of Southampton’s “old town”.
The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) is an artist-led charity which supports artists and promotes engagement with the visual arts through a range of inclusive activities: exhibitions, workshops and demonstrations.
The remains of one of the first Augustinian priories in England, founded about 1100.
An impressive example of early Norman architecture, built in flint and reused Roman brick, the church displays massive circular pillars and round arches and an elaborate west front.
Later badly damaged by cannon fire during the Civil War siege of 1648.
The mainly 14th century remains of an abbey of Premonstratensian canons. Among Suffolk’s most impressive monastic ruins, with some spectacular architectural features.
Leonard and Virginia Woolf's 17th-century country retreat
Nestled in the heart of rural Sussex, Monk’s House is a tranquil 17th-century weatherboarded cottage inhabited by Leonard and the novelist Virginia Woolf from 1919 until Leonards death in 1969.
Get to know Leonard and Virginia Woolf and the wider Bloomsbury Group by visiting Monk's House. Full of their favourite things, the house appears as if they just stepped out for a walk.
The Romantic poet John Keats lived in this house and was inspired to write his most memorable poetry here.
The grade 1 listed building is open to the public as a museum and literary centre, where Keats's memory lives on through events, creative activities and special displays.
Leighton House Museum is the former home of the Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896). The only purpose-built studio-house open to the public in the United Kingdom, it is one of the most remarkable buildings of the nineteenth century, containing a fascinatingcollection of paintings and sculpture by Leighton and his contemporaries.
Iona is a tiny island off the southwest coast of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. It is only 1.5 miles wide by 3 miles long, with a population of around 120 permanent residents. Despite this, Iona has a special place in the heart of many people the world over. It is the burial place of many of the ancient kings of Scotland including both Duncan and Macbeth on the 'Street of the Dead'.
The Saatchi Gallery is geared towards introducing a younger audience of art students and enthusiasts to contemporary art. Come and discover the most innovative in contemporary art for free.
The tranquil ruins of Wenlock Priory stand in a picturesque setting on the fringe of beautiful Much Wenlock. An Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded here in about 680 by King Merewalh of Mercia, whose abbess daughter Milburge was hailed as a saint. Her relics were miraculously re-discovered here in 1101, attracting both pilgrims and prosperity to the priory.
One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, and is a site of major historical, architectural and ecological interest.
Its grounds are a mixture of historic monumental cemetery and modern lawn cemetery, but it also boasts catacombs, a crematorium and a columbarium for cinery ashes.
The priory of St Helen stands on a gravel island on the west side of the River Idle, in what was marshland in the Middle Ages.
It was established in 1185 by Roger fitzRalph of nearby Mattersey for the Gilbertine Order, the only monastic order to have originated in England.
The substantial ruins of a Cluniac monastery, with an unusually well-marked ground plan, an almost complete west range and a 15th century gatehouse.
A fine, late 15th-century stone town house, with an early Tudor façade and panelled interiors.
This fine late 15th century town house, once thought to have been the courtroom of Glastonbury Abbey, now houses both the Tourist Information Centre and the Glastonbury Lake Village Museum, which contains dramatic finds from one of Europe’s most famous archaeological sites.
A medieval manor house interior, with a rare and well preserved Norman undercroft and a 15th century roof, all encased in brick during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The manor house, or Old Hall, at Burton Agnes was built by Roger de Stuteville between 1170 and 1180. The hall, like the village, was named after one of his daughters.
The Ghost
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