Alnwick Castle – KS5 Educational Talk

In December, Year 12 and 13 Historians were given the excellent opportunity of listening to a specialist talk on ‘Tudor England’, delivered by the Alnwick Castle Education Team, in our Rose Auditorium.

The castle has strong links to the content for Paper 1 from our A Level History Curriculum, and the talk really enhanced student appreciation for local heritage and culture.

Alnwick Castle and its residents, the powerful Percy family, played roles in many of the key events of the Tudor period.

The 90-minute presentation explored links between the castle and the region, the Percys, and the most important figures of the Tudor courts, alongside documents from the castle archives, such as:

• the story of Henry Percy, 4th Earl, who saved the life of Henry VII more than once

• the 5th Earl’s “Household Book” showing the daily timetable and food consumption of a noble Tudor household

• the doomed love story of the 6th Earl and Anne Boleyn

• the royal auditor kept prisoner in a castle tower with Henry VIII’s permission

• the death warrant, signed by Elizabeth I, condemning Thomas Percy to death by beheading

• the detailed survey of Alnwick Castle made in 1567 which revealed how a castle in the north-east functioned in Tudor times

The presentation was followed by a 30-minute question and answer session. It gave our Sixth

Form historians a real taste of what learning would be like at university and gave them the opportunity to ask questions of an archives and heritage specialist, whilst note-taking and viewing primary sources.

Students and their teachers are now very much looking forward to a follow-up visit to Alnwick Castle itself in Spring Term 2, to learn even more about this wonderful, local historic environment.

Some feedback from Year 13 Historian Sandy Kaur on her experience of the talk:

“The active engagement within the lecture made it easier to understand Alnwick's history, even if you weren't that aware of its background. The links made between our Tudors A-level topic and Alnwick's history was very well thought out. Overall, I'd say it was a great experience, and it certainly prepares you for what you'd expect from Alnwick as a whole, and how important local history is. Moreover, it certainly presented the idea to students that local history plays a vital role towards understanding the history you're learning about. For example, I didn't know how essential the Percy family was for maintaining law and order in the North under Elizabeth and Henry VIII. It truly provided a different insight into how interconnected different areas of England are to the Tudors.”