The first Cathedral on this site dates from the 12th century when Turlough O’Conor was High King of Ireland (1111-1156). This marked the establishment of Tuam as the seat of an Archbishop following the Synod of Kells in 1152. This first Cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1184 and the site was abandoned for almost 100 years.
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
North Down Museum tells the story of the North Down area from the Bronze Age to the present day, each exhibition is dedicated to a particular era of local history. Key artefacts on display include the Bronze Age Ballycroghan Swords, the Bangor Bell from the important Bangor Abbey settlement and the Raven Maps, the only complete folio of Plantation era maps in Ireland.
The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows also known as Wrexham Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Wrexham, North Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Wrexham, and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham.
Welcome to the Cathedral of The Holy Trinity Gibraltar Parish Church and the Mother Church of the Diocese in Europe
Building of the Holy Trinity Church began in 1825.
St Canice’s Cathedral and Round Tower are an essential part of the structural heritage in the vibrant medieval city of Kilkenny. This ecclesiastical site was founded in the 6th century and named after St Canice. Cill Channigh is the Gaelic for the Church of Canice, the church that originally stood on the site in the 6th century.
St Mary's is a lively church in the liberal catholic tradition of the Church of England. We are an inclusive church that will give a warm welcome to everyone.
St Mary's is situated at the historic heart of the City and University of Oxford, with entrances both from the High Street and from Radcliffe Square. Wheelchair users should enter from the High Street.
This impressive Gothic style building was the first Roman Catholic Church to be built in Ayrshire after the reformation. The first priest responsible for its construction was Mr William Thomson, a native of Banffshire; he arrived in Ayr in 1822 when the parish was founded.
The Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Ennis, also known as Ennis Cathedral, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe.
The educational work of the Cathedral is seen as an important and developing area with a great deal to offer. Over the past few years we have welcomed numerous groups of young people from all over Cumbria, together with others from many parts of Britain and abroad.
The Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Catholic community in the Diocese of Middlesbrough and seat of Bishop Terence Patrick Drainey. It is both a holy place of worship and a solace of prayer. Saint Mary’s is home to a community of people who seek to make the it a place of welcome, beauty and holiness.
St Mary’s Cathedral is mother church to the united Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway in the Scottish Episcopal Church, which is in full membership of the world-wide Anglican Communion.
In keeping with a liberal theology, St Mary’s strives to provide:
Newport Cathedral is a busy, active and attractive Christian community and place of worship. It serves as a parish church, as well as the Cathedral for the Diocese of Monmouth; thus the Dean is also the vicar of the parish of St Woolos, and its daughter church, St Martins-in-the-Gaer.
There is a regular pattern of services, to which all are warmly welcomed.
Open daily for prayer, in St Mary's Cathedral, worship is offered to God 365 days of the year. Standing high above the River Shannon, on King's Island,this cathedral has been a beacon of light - a place of Christian worship for nearly 900 years.
St. Peter's Cathedral, Belfast is the Roman Catholic cathedral church for the diocese of Down and Connor, and dates from the 1860s.
Loughrea is the Cathedral Parish of the Diocese of Clonfert. There are two churches in the parish: the Carmelite Abbey and St. Brendan's Cathedral.
The foundation stone of the Cathedral was laid on October 10, 1897. Although small in size it is large in its interior magnificence. It has been described as the jewel in the crown of the Celtic Revival.
The Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Felim, also known as Cavan Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the town of Cavan in Ireland.
The Cathedral Church of SS Peter & Paul, Dyfrig, Teilo and Euddogwy is the mother church of the Diocese of Llandaff and is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff. The Diocese, one of the six dioceses comprising the Province of The Church in Wales, covers the general area of South Wales bounded by Cardiff in the South East to Neath in the South West, the Heads of the Valleys to the North and th
This is the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain. It stands over the place where Alban, the first martyr, was buried after giving his life for his faith over 1700 years ago - more than 200 years before St Augustine arrived in Canterbury.
Canterbury Cathedral is the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Cathedral is both a holy place and part of a World Heritage Site. It is the home of a community of people who seek to make the Cathedral a place of welcome, beauty and holiness and take part in one of our 2,00 services each year.
The museum is housed in part of a building which is in itself a museum piece; a small manor house dating from the 17th century which was used as a parsonage in 1724.
The Stockwood Discovery Centre is designed with environmentally green and sustainable principles in mind.
With interactive display, variety of gardens, children play area, special events and activities, bee gallery and much more, it is a wonderful visitor attraction and museum. Collection highlights include the Wenlok Jug, the Shillington gold coin hoard and the Mossman collection.
Dorset's largest hill fort renowned for its downland wildlife
Explore the earthworks from both the Roman and Iron Age periods and imagine what it would've looked like thousands of years ago.
Take a closer look at the five entrances through the ramparts, two of which are Iron Age, two Roman and one medieval. And once inside the hill fort you'll see remains of buildings and property boundaries in the form of circular hollows and ridges.
Bayham Abbey makes a fascinating day out on the Kent-Sussex border. The impressive ruins include much of the 13th to 15th-century church, the chapter house, and a picturesque 14th-century gatehouse.
A limestone gorge honeycombed with caves and smaller fissures
Stone tools and remains of animals found in the caves by archaeologists provide evidence for a fascinating story of life during the last Ice Age between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. Great idea for family days out in Nottinghamshire.
The Pennyman family's intimate 18th-century mansion
Home of the Pennyman family for nearly 400 years, this classic Georgian mansion, with its Victorian kitchen and laundry, attractive gardens and estate walks, provides lively resources for local schools and community groups, and a unique venue for wedding ceremonies and corporate events.
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