History lovers, search out the treasures of Rochester Cathedral.

/ Rochester Cathedral/
History lovers, search out the treasures of Rochester Cathedral.

Rochester Cathedral, a must for for history-lovers with its wonderful Norman architecture; its rare medieval wall painting of “the Wheel of Fortune”; a 900 year old book, the “Texts Roffensis” with the law code of King Athelbert of Kent; plenty examples of the “Green Man” to search out; impressive large sculptures of earlier bishops; its Norman crypt and its close proximity to Rochester Castle. Added to these attractions, go at the time of the summer’s Dicken’s festival or its christmas festival and you have a very full day of seeing the past.

Read More

For the Castle enthusiast, Rochester must be high on your list.

/ Rochester Castle/
For the Castle enthusiast, Rochester must be high on your list.

Rochester Castle is great for castle lovers. It has a huge keep to explore and plenty of stories to discover. In 1215 King John attacked the rebel held castle using 40 pigs! Why pigs? Well, he mined under the south -east tower projecting from the keep and set the wooden props alight with the aid of the fat from 40 pigs acting as giant exploding sausages to bring a huge section down. The demolished tower was later replaced by a stronger round tower in the south -east corner looking rather odd against the other 3 square towers! Fantastic views can be had from the battlements at the top of the keep once you have trekked up the spiral staircases.

Read More

Reading Museum; home of Britain's own Bayeux Tapestry and the lost Roman town of Silchester

/ Reading museum/

No need to go to France to see the Bayeux Tapestry, go to Reading Museum instead. It’s there in its entirety for all to see and its free! Whilst you are there, have a look at the Silchester exhibition, the story of the old Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum that was abandoned and returned to agricultural land. Behind the museum are the remains of Reading Abbey, one of the largest in the country and the burial place of Henry I.

Read More

Lavenham, "the best preserved medieval village in the country".

/ Lavenham/
Lavenham, "the best preserved medieval village in the country".

The story of Lavenham , is the story of a very prosperous and thriving medieval town that peaked in the 1520s and then suffered a major economic decline, arresting virtually all building development and modernisation. This left numerous stunning, but unaltered, medieval timber framed houses for us to enjoy during a gentle stroll through the village. Houses in Lavenham could adorn a countless boxes of chocolate and calendars.

Read More

Colchester Castle; one of the finest archaeological collections in the country and brilliant for kids.

/ Colchester Castle/

This is the largest Norman Keep in Europe built on top of the remains of the great temple of Claudius the conquering Roman Empire. Objects from over 2000 years including the Iron Age, Boudicca’s uprising, the finest display of Roman glassware rivalling that of the British Museum, are here along a gruesome dungeon section focusing on the BloodY Mary burning people at the stake, Matthew Hopkin’s witchfinding, There are countless invitations to touch objects and children’s activities include a roman chariot race simulation, 4 dressing up stations, use of tablets to compete an electronic quiz and creation of a mosaic.

Read More

Ightham Mote; a 700 year old magnificent, medieval moated manor house set in the beautiful Kent Countryside.

/ Ightham Mote/
Ightham Mote; a 700 year old magnificent, medieval moated manor house set in the beautiful Kent Countryside.

A visit to the beautiful Ightham Mote will take you on a journey back to the 14th century. Various rooms and details result in you being taken along a timeline of discovery and evoking a deep sense of history. It was built by medieval knights, taken on by tudor courtiers desperate to gain favour with Henry VIII and on through high society Victorians before ending up in the hands of a very generous American benefactor who passed it on to the National Trust. It has many rooms to marvel at, from the medieval “Great Hall” and Crypt”, to Catherine of Aragon’s pomegranite emblem on the chapel ceiling and ending up in the impressive Victorian billiard room.

Read More

Tower of London for kids - a great place for adults too. Royal Palace, Royal Prison, Execution Central and Murder Mysteries .

/ Tower of London/

With over 1000 years of history, you’ll find plenty to do in the Tower of London for kids as well as some of the more fascinating stories and murder mysteries English history. The Tower of London is one of England’s iconic buildings and the remnants of just how brutal and bloody the Middle Ages were. Why does it have this reputation?From the barbaric and gruesome William the Conqueror who created it, to kings and queens who were excited there, the Tower of London is a place of gripping and captivating history that the whole family can see close up.

Read More

Young person's guide to causes of World War Two and The Battle of Britain

/ Battle of Britain Bunker Hillingdon London/
Young person's guide to causes of World War Two and The Battle of Britain

A pictorial guide to the causes of World War 2 and the Battle of Britain for young people. A fun, conversation guide that takes you through all you need to know about the reasons for the start of the Second World War for kids.

Read More

Rameses II - one of the stars of the British Museum

/ British Museum/

Why you should go to see Rameses II at the British Museum. A concise account of key details on Rameses II, considered the greatest pharaoh of them all. Seeing key sculptures of Rameses II at the British Museum.

Read More

Why the British Museum should be on everyone's itinerary

/ British Museum/

I know what you’re thinking: “why on earth would I put a museum on my London itinerary”? Shouldn’t I be visiting the world-class restaurants, the west-end theatre or simply taking in the history like Buckingham Palace. Furthermore, you’ll be surprised to find that the British Museum isn’t focused on British History (very little of it is actually British).

However, stick with me, because the British Museum is not only one of the best museums in Britain, but probably the world.


Thutmose III.jpg

Why the British Museum?

Firstly, because you can investigate over 4000 years of history in one place. Spread over four floors, there are plenty of artefacts to see at your leisure and we’ve made multiple trips (probably culminating in days of exploring and we still haven’t seen it all).

From Rameses II of Egypt, to the Rosetta Stone and the preserved remains of Lindow Man, to the Sutton Hoo treasure and Viking loot, the British Museum is home to some of the most important artefacts in the world and there will be something that interests everyone.

Can’t afford to go to Egypt? Go to the British Museum and immerse yourself in the world of the pharaohs!

Mummies, statues, ancient pictures and hieroglyphs, the British Museum has loads of them.The spectacle of world of ancient Egypt is there for all to see.Ever seen a mummified Cat, crocodile or bull? They are all there to add to the story of the land of the pharaohs.

You can take in the museum long galleries packed with amazing objects from Ancient Egypt. After spending a couple of hours in galleries on two floors you’ll be booking your next holiday to the land of the Pharaohs. This is only the start of your expedition in time to some of the most fascinating periods of history.

Mummy1.jpg





Here’s a few more reasons why we love this museum.

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone

Have you ever wandered how Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered?

Have a look at the Rosetta Stone and see hieroglyphs alongside ancient Greek and Demotic. Look for the the cartouche (name) of Rameses II on the stone and wonder how it was decoded. If you want to get even closer to the Rosetta Stone, go to room one and see an exact copy that you can touch and get a closer look.

You can see giant statues from one of the first civilisations which predates the Romans and Greeks

You can meet the mysterious Lindow Man

The British Museum may be famous for grand men of history, Pharoahs and Greeks of the classical world but here you will find a British man from the Iron Age. Pete Marsh was murdered 2000 years ago yet his body was preserved in Lindow Moss in a Manchester peat bog. Archaeologists have even discovered that he had just eaten some bread for breakfast before he was brutally killed.

image.png

Want to see the the world of the Ancient Greeks?

image.png

You can get close up to legendary heroes, centaurs and the world famous Elgin Marbles from the Acropolis at the British Museum.

Key stage 2 comes alive at the British Museum.

Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece are all important features of Key stage 2 History studied in primary schools.Make your child’s studies come alive and take the to the British Museum.

Want to entertain your children and grand children? Get them away from their iPads for the day?

Take them to the British Museum and have lots of fun discovering ancient worlds with our activity sheets.


Look at the detail in this buckle

Look at the detail in this buckle

image.png

See treasure from largest ever Anglo-Saxon Ship burial at Sutton Hoo.

Despite no wooden remains lasting the ravages of an acid soil in East Anglia, the ghostly outline of a ship was carefully excavated to reveal the amazing grave goods of an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who was once thought to be a king! Marvel at the skilled artistic metalwork used to create the gold and garnet shoulder clasps, a purse lid and belt buckle.


image.png



Meet the Lewis Chessmen, made 800 years ago in Norway but found on the Island of Lewis, Scotland.

For nearly 2500 years before the X Box and Wii, people of all ages from all over the medieval world, have played chess. Made of intricately carved Walrus ivory and whale tooth, the Lewis chessmen are one of our favourite exhibits. Look at their gloomy faces. The queen looks particularly fed up. In contrast, the pawns do not have any human features and some people believe, reflect the Islamic version of this Indian invented game.

 
Assyrian human headed winged lion.jpg
 

Never heard of the Assyrians?

At its height the Assyrian empire was huge and included Iran, Iraq, Egypt Israel and even Cyprus. Amazing carvings and friezes dating from the 8th and 8th centuries BC are among the stunning artefacts in the British Museum. If you want ancient culture without the crowds, come and see the Assyrian collection.

Avoiding the crowds

Want to visit the British Museum but can’t bare the thought of crowded gallery after crowded gallery, visit the Assyrian galleries in rooms 7-9 on the ground floor.


How to get to the British Museum

Take the underground to Tottenham Court Road and it take no more than 10 minutes to walk, with opportunities for a quick cup of coffee on the way.

 

Are you planning a trip to London? What is the best museum you’ve ever visited? Let us know in the comments below.

Follow us on social media

Articles on London

Seeing The Past
Full length nave.jpg
"Da Vinci Code", the Knights Templar and William Marshall, the "greatest knight that ever lived", see it all in the Temple Church hidden in the City of London.

The Temple Church was the headquarters of the Knights Templar in London. The Templars have a fascinating history, have been linked to the “Holy Grail” and in modern times have featured in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. In the film of book of his book, the key characters visit the temple in their quest to find the grail. In 1215 AD, it was the place that key negotiations for Magna Carta took place in the reign of King John. On stepping inside the Temple Church, eight effigies can be observed , one of which is William Marshall, known as “the greatest ever knight”.

Read more →
Temple2.jpg
The London Mithraeum, discovered in 1954 under the bombed out ruins of London and now rebuilt to give you a "memorable, powerful and authentic experience."

The London Mithraeum, discovered in 1952 under the bombed out ruins of London, is now rebuilt and open to the public to give you a "memorable, powerful and authentic experience."The London Mithraeum was built 1800 years ago by the Romans and dedicated to the god, Mithras. In 1952 a small section of a Roman building was discovered and on the last day of the dig in 1954 its function was confirmed as a temple devoted to the God Mithras. The evidence on that last day was a sculpted head of Mythras. The temple was first built around 240-250AD and was eventually abandoned in about 380AD and is now open to the public in the Bloomberg building. A further excavation took place between 2012-2014 and discovered more than 14 000 artefacts, together with 63 000 pieces of pottery and 3 tonnes of animal bones. This together with the original finds means that this was has become a highly important site in the history of London. Over 400 pieces of writing tablets have been found and this includes the first known reference to London and the earliest hand written document. Some 600 artefacts are on display as well as the temple itself. Several other key finds are on display in the nearby Museum of London. (20 minutes walk)

Read more →
London Civic Centre.jpg
Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. (Part 1)

Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. You can see amazing objects from thousands of years of life in London, from a Mammoth tusk to a pilgrims badge representing a visit to St Thomas Becket’s tomb. You can get up close to those objects and see their little details. The displays are bright and informative. There are rooms set out as though they were from a Roman villa placing Roman finds in context. Several models are on display such as London’s Roman forum and Basilica as well as the original gothic St Paul’s Cathedral

Read more →
image.png
Sutton Hoo, “One of the most spectacular and important discoveries of British archaeology”', according to the British museum.

The Sutton Hoo treasure, one of the greatest hoards of treasure found in Britain. See a window into the Anglo-Saxon world after the Romans had left and before the Vikings arrived. The ship burial of a mighty warrior.

Read more →
White T.jpg
Tower of London for kids - a great place for adults too. Royal Palace, Royal Prison, Execution Central and Murder Mysteries .

With over 1000 years of history, you’ll find plenty to do in the Tower of London for kids as well as some of the more fascinating stories and murder mysteries English history. The Tower of London is one of England’s iconic buildings and the remnants of just how brutal and bloody the Middle Ages were. Why does it have this reputation?From the barbaric and gruesome William the Conqueror who created it, to kings and queens who were excited there, the Tower of London is a place of gripping and captivating history that the whole family can see close up.

Read more →
Young person's guide to causes of World War Two and The Battle of Britain
Young person's guide to causes of World War Two and The Battle of Britain

A pictorial guide to the causes of World War 2 and the Battle of Britain for young people. A fun, conversation guide that takes you through all you need to know about the reasons for the start of the Second World War for kids.

Read more →
The Battle of Britain Bunker
The Battle of Britain Bunker

The nerve centre of the operation to save Britain from Nazi conquest in 1940. The Battle of Britain, why so much was owed to so few by so many. Spitfire and Hurricane heroes saved Britain and it all centred here.

Read more →
Rameses II.jpg
Rameses II - one of the stars of the British Museum

Why you should go to see Rameses II at the British Museum. A concise account of key details on Rameses II, considered the greatest pharaoh of them all. Seeing key sculptures of Rameses II at the British Museum.

Read more →
Why the British Museum should be on everyone's itinerary
Why the British Museum should be on everyone's itinerary
Read more →