Tynemouth Castle and Priory on the coast of North East England was once one of the largest fortified areas in England. Overlooking the North Sea and the River Tyne, it dominates the headland. With its 2000 year history and beautiful views it is the perfect location for a family fun day out.
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 info@schooltripsadvisor.org.uk.
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
The very extensive remains of a 13th century priory, founded on the site of a retired pirate's hermitage.
Part of it later served as a holiday retreat for the monks of Durham Cathedral. Beautifully sited by the River Wear with delightful riverside walks nearby.
We are located in a superb rural setting in the attractive village of Everdon, near Daventry. The surrounding countryside provides a wide variety of contrasting landscapes and habitats which make the area ideal for the study of Geography, Science and Environmental Studies.
The centre:
Imposing church built in 1653, with fine panelled interior
Staunton Harold Church rises above a lake whose tranquil waters reflect the beauty of north-west Leicestershire’s gently rolling hills. It is a picture of rural peace and contentment. But you need not look far to find a very different story from England’s most turbulent times.
St Mawes Castle is among the best-preserved of Henry VIII's coastal artillery fortresses, and the most elaborately decorated of them all. One of the chain of forts built between 1539 and 1545 to counter an invasion threat from Catholic France and Spain, it guarded the important anchorage of Carrick Roads, sharing the task with Pendennis Castle on the other side of the Fal estuary.
Tranquil garden and 13th-century chapel
Set in the Darenth Valley, the rare surviving chapel is the only remaining structure of the Preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers of the Order of St John of Jerusalem formed in 1113.
Startlingly beautiful coastline where rugged cliffs rise above a glittering Atlantic
The 14-mile stretch of coast that runs westwards from the holiday resort of St Ives to the mining village of Pendeen, can lay proud claim to being the most startlingly beautiful in south-west England.
The Tate organisation is one of the foremost providers of art galleries and experiences for young people in the UK today.
We have four galleries:
Ornate and rare large medieval guildhall
Originally built as a guildhall for a prosperous wool trade, St George's has been used under many guises a corn exchange, a weapons store and finally, a theatre.
The Dean & Chapter of Rochester welcome family groups, school children and students of all ages, abilities, cultural and religious backgrounds to learn about this historic centre of Christian worship.
Rugged coastline and heather moorland steeped in Celtic history
St David's Head is a dramatic headland northwest of St David's and Whitesands beach dominated by the peak of Carn Llidi. Super for sea views and circular coastal walks.
A Neolithic or early Bronze Age chambered tomb with an entrance passage, walled and roofed with stone slabs, leading into the central chamber.
Tregiffian is a type of chambered tomb known as an entrance grave, and survives largely intact, despite the levelling of part of its mound to make a road in the 1840s.
Breathtaking coast, rich in heritage and wildlife
A vast low tide beach and a sea of glowing heather make it hard to believe this area was once an industrial landscape. The enigmatic buildings perched on the cliffs provide a reminder of St Agnes’ tin and copper mining past.
Pretty 17th-century 'Plantation' home with a significant costume collection
Experience the beguiling spirit of this inimitable 17th-century 'Plantation' home, with its walled gardens and parkland, full of tempting waymarked paths. There are ten generations of Lenox-Conyngham family tales to enthrall you, as well as numerous portraits and much furniture to admire and not forgetting Ireland's most-documented ghost: Olivia.
Beyond the black & white is a Tudor house with a Victorian personality
Speke Hall is a rare Tudor timber-framed manor house in a most unusual setting on the banks of the River Mersey. Restored and brought back to life in the 19th century, it is a unique and beautiful mixture of Tudor simplicity and Victorian Arts and Crafts' aesthetics.
A great and ancient Downland estate
Slindon Estate is 1,400 hectares of woodland, downland, farmland, and parkland. With countless historic landscape features and its unspoilt Sussex village, there is something for every visitor.
Ellen Terry's early 16th-century house and cottage gardens
Built in the early 16th-century when Smallhythe was a thriving shipbuilding port, Smallhythe Place was purchased by renowned Victorian actress Ellen Terry in 1899.
Her daughter Edith Craig set up the museum in 1929 which is home to a fascinating personal and theatrical collection which highlights Ellen Terry's extraordinary career and unconventional personal life.
Remains of an early 13th-century fortress
Remains of early 13th-century castle, built beside the River Monnow to command one of the main routes from England.
Beautiful medieval house, with rich gardens and estate
This imposing house stands proud at the gateway to the Lake District.
Its rich and beautiful garden includes a pond, lake, a national collection of hardy ferns and a superb limestone rock garden.
The National Dinosaur Museum houses the southern hemisphere's largest permanent display of prehistoric items. The museum's exhibition shows the evolution of life, especially dinosaurs.
The museum is one of the most popular places to visit in the Australian Capital Territory. Each year, 100,000 people come through its doors.
Charmouth is the gateway to the Jurassic Coast, an ancient coastline of dramatic cliffs, fossils and beautiful scenery. Ideal for a family holiday away from brash amusements and expensive visitor attractions - re-discover traditional holiday pastimes, enjoy the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre and look for fossils as well.
Experience one of the country's great gardens
Hidcote is an Arts and Crafts garden in the north Cotswolds, a stone’s throw from Stratford-upon-Avon. Created by the talented American horticulturist, Major Lawrence Johnston its colourful and intricately designed outdoor ‘rooms’ are always full of surprises. It’s a must-see if you’re in the Cotswolds.
When you visit the railway you can enjoy a unique train ride through dramatic limestone scenery, discover fossils and wild flowers, learn about the railway and stare at the vintage rolling stock!
Once the stronghold of the turbulent Mortimer family, Wigmore Castle was later dismantled to prevent its use during the Civil War. Now it is among the most remarkable ruins in England, largely buried up to first floor level by earth and fallen masonry. Yet many of its fortifications survive to full height, including parts of the keep on its towering mound.
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