Our taught sessions and online resources cover a variety of time periods and places. Many contain structured investigations for use directly in the classroom. Others are more suited for research and preparation. They all allow access into our unique collections.
Showing 124 resources
Classroom resource
1833 Factory Act
Did it solve the problems of children in factories?
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1834 Poor Law
What did people think of the new Poor Law?
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19th century mining disaster
What happened at the Trimdon Grange Mining Disaster?
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19th century people
What can we tell from this photograph?
Session we teach
4099 is my name (SEND)
How can we share the experiences of someone who lived in the past?
A Great Christmas Inconvenience
What can we learn from the documents about how some Victorians celebrated Christmas?
A Significant Person
Why is this person from the past remembered?
All on board!
What can we learn from old board games?
All Work and No Play
What does this document reveal about work in the past?
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Anglo-Saxons – Gift from a King
What was Anglo-Saxon society like?
Animals in the Archives
What jobs have animals done in times of war and peace?
Archaeology in the Archives
What kinds of documents can tell us about the work of archaeologists?
Archives Ahoy!
What can we learn about pirates from our collection?
Atlas of Illustrated Feelings
How are you feeling today?
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British Response to V1 and V2
How did Britain respond to the threat of attack by missiles in 1943?
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Captain Cook in Hawaii
What happened on his final voyage?
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Caribbean history in photographs
What can these photographs tell us?
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Census detective
What can you find out?
Census Detectives
What does the census reveal about families in the past?
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Chertsey
What was Chertsey like in the Middle Ages?
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Child migration
Why were children sent to Canada in 1869-1913?
Session we teach
Choosing for the Archives (SEND)
How can we find out about someone from the past, using documents, images and objects?
Codes and Secret Messages
What do the documents reveal about codes and secret messages?
Craft Club – Christmas Cards
Festive pop-up cards
Creating an Imaginary Archive
What would you collect?
Curiosities
What is this curious object?
Dear Herbert
What can personal documents reveal about people’s lives?
Disaster at Sea
How can we find out about significant events in the past?
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Discover the Dissolution
How did the Dissolution change my local area?
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Domesday Book
What can we learn about England in the 11th century?
Session we teach
Domesday Book: medieval treasure
What can we learn about people’s lives in 1086?
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Edward the Confessor
What does the Domesday Abbreviato tells us about Edward the Confessor?
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Elizabethan propaganda
How did England try to show Spain planned to invade in 1588?
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England’s Immigrants, 1330-1550
Downloads for teachers
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Evacuation to Canada
How much care was really taken?
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Evacuation to Shropshire
What was it like in the Second World War?
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Florence Nightingale
Why do we remember her?
Session we teach
Four days’ hard labour
What was life like for a Victorian child criminal?
Fun in the Files
What can our documents reveal about how people had fun in the past?
Gordon Ford’s story
What was it like to be an airman in World War Two?
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Government posters
How did Britain encourage people at home to help win the war?
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Great Fire of London: how London changed
What happened?
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Gunpowder Plot
Can you uncover the plans of the plotters?
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Henry VIII court rules
How did Henry VIII get up in the morning?
Session we teach
Henry VIII: image of a king
Was appearance everything for a ruler in the 16th century?
Session we teach
Henry’s royal rules (SEND)
What were the rules of daily life for a king in Tudor times?
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Holding History
What is 'The National Archives'?
Holidays are Here!
What can our documents reveal about how families enjoyed summer holidays during the Second World War?
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How we were taught
What was school like 100 years ago?
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Introduction
What is The National Archives?
Living under canvas
What can this document tell us about the experience of a group of refugee children?
Classroom resource
Magna Carta teacher’s resources
Downloads for teachers
Session we teach
Maps – a study through time
How and why does an area change over time?
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Mining explosion
The Trimdon Grange mining accident
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Murder at Kirk o’ Field
What happened in 1567?
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Past pleasures
How did the Victorians have fun?
Propaganda
How can art be used to convey a message?
Session we teach
Propaganda and the art of war
How did the British government encourage people to support the war?
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Queen Anne
How can we find out about her?
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Rob Roy
A Victorian railway accident
Samuel Pepys
What does his will reveal?
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Say ‘cheese’: a portrait of Queen Victoria’s family
What can Queen Victoria's family photographs tell us?
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Selling the Victorians
Victorians for sale! Has advertising changed from Victorian times?
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
What can an object reveal about its owner and life in Medieval England?
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Significant Events
What happened then?
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Significant People
Who is who?
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Significant Places
What's in a place?
The Beautiful Game
What can our documents reveal about an incredible sports match?
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The Great Seal
What can it tell us?
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The Home Front
How did people prepare for the war at home?
Session we teach
The Sinking of the Titanic
Why were so many lives lost in the disaster?
Time Travel Club Activities
Discovering The National Archives
Session we teach
Travel smart through time (SEND)
How and why have people travelled around in the past and how have they done it safely?
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Trimdon
What was it like living in a late 19th century mining town?
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Tudor Entertainment
What was the effect of the early playhouses?
Tudors: Image of a King
How did monarchs present an ‘image’ of themselves in the past?
Session we teach
Unmasking a spy
Who was Karel Richter?
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Victorian children in trouble with the law
Did the punishment fit the crime?
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Victorian family history
How can we find out about the life of a Victorian child using family sources?
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Victorian Food and Drink
What do old adverts reveal?
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Victorian homes
Was there much difference between rich and poor homes?
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Victorian lives
How was life different in Victorian times?
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Victorian Railways
Did they create more crime?
Session we teach
Virtual classroom taster
Would you like to book a live virtual classroom taster session?
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Walter Tull
How can we use sources to find out about him?
Session we teach
What is history? (KS2)
How do historians know what to believe?
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Workhouse Voices Creative Writing
Stories inspired by letters from the past
Session we teach
‘Living under canvas’
What can we learn from documents about the experiences of Basque child refugees?