Although a charter was granted to the town in 1705, following a petition citing the lack of local justice which stated "whereof the morall of the inhabitants are corrupt, and cavill and breach of the peace are frequent", it was not until 1813 when an order was placed with a Mr.Beard of Somerton to draw up plans for a Town Hall.
Citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship Studies is concerned with the kind of society we live in and want to influence and develop. It covers, too, the role of the public and private organisations in the process. School courses help prepare students to become active citizens. The best of them promote students’ personal and social development, and make them more self-confident and responsible, in the classroom and beyond.
All external examination courses emphasise developing awareness of the role of citizens in a variety of contexts.
Just about any educational visit will contribute to the students’ exploration of new experiences and new ideas about being a ‘citizen’, but venues and activities that bring students into contact with other communities, other social contexts and other attitudes will be particularly exciting. Many museums and venues specialise in giving hands-on experiences of what some aspects of life in earlier centuries was actually like. These tend to be attractive to primary school groups.
Secondary groups often visit civic centres and attend local council meetings. Both primary and secondary groups will be welcome at churches, chapels, synagogues, mosques and temple, some of which offer programmes of talks and exhibitions. In cities this is relatively easy to arrange but even in rural communities priests and lay church people are prepared to help schools.
The Citizenship Foundation would be an excellent starting point. It claims to help 80% of secondary schools to nurture citizenship, and sets out to inspire young people to contribute to society. The Association for Citizenship Teaching also provides advice and teaching resources, while the National Centre for Citizenship and the Law delivers law and justice education at national heritage sites.
Main organisations:
Association for Citizenship Teaching
National Centre for Citizenship and the Law (NCCL)
Inclusion: NASEN
Thought of visiting?
The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green
National Trust Museum of Childhood, Sudbury, Derbyshire
Venues for this Curriculum
Remains of a late 13th-century knight's dwelling
Old Soar Manor is a small but nevertheless complete portion of stone manor house built c. 1290. Nestled in a remote position within the Kent countryside, on the edge of the picturesque North Downs, this rare survival of 13th century domestic architecture gives an illuminating impression of the life of a rich medieval family.
Cromer’s past in an enchanting nutshell
Step inside a tiny fisherman's cottage and imagine life in Cromer at the end of the 19th century. Colourful displays chart the town’s history as an early Victorian seaside resort, resplendent with fine hotels and scandalous mixed bathing.
The best-preserved remains of a Cistercian abbey west cloister range in England, dating mainly from around 1170. Incorporated into part of a 17th century and later mansion, set in Rufford Country Park.
Evocative cob and thatch cottage - birthplace of Thomas Hardy
Few authors have such strong associations with the natural and cultural heritage of their local area as Thomas Hardy. This cottage, where Hardy was born in 1840, was built of cob and thatch by his grandfather and has been little altered since the family left.
Visit the extensive ruins of Baconsthorpe Castle, a moated and fortified 15th century manor house, that are a testament to the rise and fall of a prominent Norfolk family, the Heydons.
Over 200 years, successive generations of this ambitious family built, then enlarged, and finally abandoned this castle.
Berwick Barracks was built in the early 18th century to the design of the distinguished architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, the Barracks was among the first in England to be purpose built.
18th-century printing press
Take a step back in time and discover a treasure trove of ink, galleys and presses hidden behind an 18th-century shop front in the heart of Strabane, once the famous printing town of Ulster.
Gray’s Printing Press is now being staffed with local volunteers who have gained expert knowledge about the Press.
Interactive and stimulating tours of the historic university where much of Harry Potter was filmed! Like stepping into their favourite films. Most tours are for 10+ but Family Tours in holidays welcome 5+.
The ruins of a 13th century Premonstratensian abbey, later converted into a Tudor mansion. The church was rebuilt as a grand turreted gatehouse. Information panels tell the story of the monastery and its conversion into a mansion.
Miles of mystery and history beneath your feet
Extending some 35km (22 miles), the man-made caves were constructed as an ancient lime and flint mine.
Set in the heart of royal London at Hyde Park Corner, Wellington Arch was built in 1825-7 as part of a campaign to improve the royal parks. Intended as a victory arch proclaiming Wellington's defeat of Napoleon, it is crowned by the largest bronze sculpture in Europe, depicting the Angel of Peace descending on the ‘Quadriga’ – or four-horsed chariot – of War.
The remains of a large and luxurious villa built around AD 250, with a bathhouse complex and possibly the shrine of a water spirit.
The villa at Great Witcombe is one of a group of large houses in the region and was constructed on the steep banks of Birdlip Hill below a line of springs.
Also known as Number One London, Apsley House is one of the most interesting visitor attractions in London. Home to the Duke of Wellington after his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, the interior of the house has changed very little since the days of the Iron Duke.
Jane Austen is one of the most popular and important novelists that England has ever produced. The house at Chawton is where she spent the last eight years of her life. It is of international importance as the place where she did the majority of her mature writing, but at the same time retains the charm of a village home.
Although once surrounded by farmland, this ancient manor house now stands amidst an industrial estate. Nevertheless, a leafy garden provides a fitting setting for the property, and visitors willing to brave the built-up surroundings are more than rewarded with a fine medieval building - which also includes fascinating traces of wall paintings in the first floor hall.
"It is impossible to imagine a prettier spot" - such were the words of Queen Victoria after her first visit to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
No trip to the island would be complete without a visit to this royal seaside palace where Queen Victoria lived with her beloved Prince Albert and their nine children.
Striking Elizabethan merchant's house and gardens
Important brick-built Tudor gentry house, completed about 1573, little altered since. Early 17th-century wall-paintings showing fishing scenes and a cityscape grace the former Great Chamber.
Evocative exposed timbers in attic, fine original spiral oak staircase in turret, soaring chimneys, cobbled courtyard, peaceful walled garden with bee boles.
The charming ruins of a small monastery of Premonstratensian 'white canons', picturesquely set above a bend in the River Tees near Barnard Castle.
Remains include much of the 13th century church and a range of living quarters, with traces of their ingenious toilet drainage system.
A unique 17th-century treasure trove
This rare and atmospheric 17th-century house sits on the banks of the River Thames in Richmond. It is the creation of the tenacious Duchess of Lauderdale and her husband, the Duke, who together transformed Ham into one of the grandest Stuart houses in England.
Clarence House is the official London residence of The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry. Here Their Royal Highnesses receive official guests from this country and overseas on behalf of the nation, and bring together people from all walks of life through official seminars, lunches, receptions and dinners.
The Laing Art Gallery is home to an important collection of fine and decorative art. Our permanent collection and temporary exhibitions feature historic and contemporary art from internationally renowned artists.
Medieval hospital, Tudor ammunition store and church for the forces since the 1580s, the Royal Garrison Church has stood in Portsmouth for nearly 800 years.
Royal Garrison Church was constructed about 1212 as part of a hospital complex. Although the nave was badly damaged in a 1941 fire-bomb raid on Portsmouth, the chancel remains roofed and furnished.
Elegant Georgian town house with wonderful walled garden
Peckover House is a secret gem, an oasis hidden away in an urban environment. A classic Georgian merchant's town house, it was lived in by the Peckover family for 150 years.
Tucked away in a deep wooded valley, Berry Pomeroy Castle is the perfect romantic ruin with a colourful history of intrigue.
Pages
Featured Provider
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
Login/Sign Up
Latest News
Schoolboy Falls From 60ft Cliff on School Trip
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.