Largest castle in Wales, well preserved & interpreted, exhibitions, film show, interactive table. We also provide Medieaval Treasure Chest handling and self-led activity packs on Castles, English and Science, Technology and Mathematics.
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
Rheilfford Mynydd Brycheiniog
Travel with smoke and steam in splendid Wales.
The line runs from Pant, near Merthyr Tydfil. Travel in one of our all-weather Observation Carriages, behind a vintage steam locomotive, into the Brecon Beacons National Park to see stunning views of the peaks of the Beacons across the Taf Fechan reservoir.
Known as the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, is one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court.
Founded in memory of the British film-maker Bill Douglas in 1994, this museum on Exeter University campus contains an enormous collection relating to the history of film and optical entertainment.
The Royal Mint is a national treasure, making beautifully crafted coins and medals for countries all over the world. Over a thousand years of craftsmanship and artistry ensures every piece we strike is a long lasting piece of history.
The Richard Burton Archives is the corporate memory and archive repository of Swansea University and holds material of local, regional and national significance. The Archives selects, preserves and makes accessible to all the records of historical value created or acquired by the University.
Set in over 500 acres of historic deer park, Wollaton Hall is a spectacular Tudor building home to the city's Natural History Museum.
Also see the Industrial Museum, Steam Engine House, Wollaton Visitor Centre and the Yard Gallery, plus exhibitions exploring art and the environment.
A story-telling walking tour all about ghosts! Where they haunt, why they haunt, a bit of gore, some heritage and history - and you might even spot the real ghost who haunts our tours!
Great local museum which celebrates the culture and social history of the people of Lincolnshire from 1750 to the present day. There are a number of exhibits, which illustrate commercial, agricultural, industrial, and domestic life.
This Iron Age settlement was originally occupied almost 2,000 years ago and is one of the finest examples of such in the country.
Maritime Museum
If you would like to discover more about Hull’s maritime heritage, come and enjoy free admission to the city’s Maritime Museum.
Find out all about St Neots in this small but fascinating museum. Free entry for local residents.
There is an interesting selction of photographs and objects, plus a number of hands on activities, which the kids will love.
The Historic Dockyard, Chatham is a fully accredited museum and partner in Renaissance South East, the South East Museum hub.
We collect, preserve, study and exhibit objects and material connected with the history of:
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The people who worked in, or were associated with, Chatham Dockyard
This ruin of a 12th century castle in the grounds of a mansion, was built as a fortified palace and was in the ownership of the Church until the 16th century. Now a romantic ruin, in the grounds of the New Sherborne Castle, it is a great day out for all ages.
The tour of Stamford Bridge is not to be missed. Home of the incredible Chelsea Football Club, it’s a fun, informative and unforgettable experience enjoyed by sports fans of all ages from all over the world.
The Dorset History Centre is the archives service and local studies library for Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole. We house Dorset's local archives - from council records to personal collections. Our online catalogue gives access to over 150,000 catalogue entries, with more being added all the time.
The Church of Ireland Cathedral (said to be the smallest Cathedral in Europe) stands on the site of the early 13th century medieval Cathedral, which was built up by Bishop John St. John at the same time as the building of the Castle. John St. John was the first Norman bishop of Ferns, d 1243. It was situated within the bounds of the monastery founded by St.
A powerful thick-walled round keep dating from around 1200, characteristic of the Welsh Borders, on a large earthen mound within a stonewalled bailey. Set in the beautiful Olchon valley, with magnificent views of the Black Mountains.
Since it opened in December 2007, the Dad's Army Museum has gone from strength to strength. Today thousands of visitors make their way to Thetford (Walmington-on-Sea) each year to see where the series was filmed and to learn more about one of the most enduring comedy programmes ever produced.
Saltaire Village is near Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is named after Sir Titus Salt who built a textile mill, known as Salts Mill and this village on the River Aire.
Designed by architects, Lockwood and Mawson, Salts Mill was opened on Sir Titus Salt's 50th birthday, 20 September 1853.
HMS Warrior, launched in 1860, was the pride of Queen Victoria's fleet. Powered by steam and sail, she was Britain's first iron-hulled, armoured warship and the largest, fastest and most powerful ship of her day. Warrior was, in her time, the ultimate deterrent, yet within a few years became obsolete.
The trust has its headquarters in Thorn Park Lodge, Thorn Park, Plymouth. At the lodge is a pharmaceutical library, a collection of materia medica (used in the past for making pharmaceutical preparations) an extensive collection of artefacts and old fashioned proprietary goods.
Wayland's Smithy is an atmospheric historic site situated approximately 2km along the Ridgeway from the Uffington White Horse. A Neolithic chambered long barrow, it was once believed to have been the habitation of the Saxon smith-god Wayland.
The London Film Museum is now the venue for the Bond in Motion Collection, including the famous Lotus Esprit (as a submarine!). This is a chance for movie (and car) fans young and old to see some of the most iconic film vehicles of all time.
Remote late 17th-century Baptist chapel at Gunby Hall Estate
Built in a time of dissent and persecution, this unique secluded chapel was designed to look like a farmyard barn in order to avoid being discovered. Built in 1701 and refurbished in 1840, the chapel has a modest interior and a rare open air baptistry in its grounds.
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