London History School Day Trips & Tours - British History

After a major redevelopment, the museum features groundbreaking WWI Galleries which will present the story - how it started, why it continued and its global impact - through the lives of those who experienced it on both the front line and the home front. The Witness to War atrium displays iconic larger objects including a Harrier, Spitfire and V2 rocket suspended from above.

Visit the Churchill War Rooms which Winston Churchill and the War Cabinet used during air raids. Explore the historic rooms to experience secret history and discover the stories of those who worked underground as London was bombed above them.

A 60 minute workshop exploring how the cathedral survived the Blitz and still serves the city as a venue for remembrance and reconciliation. Students will be taught the Fire Watchers drill by a volunteer fire watcher and are taken on a journey around the Cathedral, being shown where bombs fell and demonstrated how to deal with the dreaded Incendiary bomb and gas mask.

Discover the stories behind this warship from WWII and beyond. Imagine sleeping in one of the tightly packed hammocks during duties in Arctic waters, or being stationed deep in the bowels of the ship when she opened fire in support of Allied troops on D-Day.

This two hour session takes place in a working court room and around the courts. Students will be introduced to the Royal Courts of Justice and prepare and enact a trial based on a real historical case. They will then discuss and debate real historical sentencing options and compare these to sentencing options in the present day. Trials include a conscientious objector during WWI, a trial deciding whether forcing slaves to leave the country should be made illegal or a suffragette arrested for malicious damage.

Understand the nature of surgery before the barriers of infection and pain had been overcome with the reconstruction of an early 19th century operation. Also covers the role, status and training of surgeons before the advances in surgery and medical training in the later 19th century.

St Mary’s Hospital is home to the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum. As well as seeing Fleming’s laboratory, restored to its 1928 condition, students can explore the story of Fleming and debate his precise role in the development of penicillin.

Helping students to examine the role of Nightingale in the development of training for nurses and standards of care in hospitals, groups can see how the status of nurses was transformed, as well as how Nightingale’s work showed a new approach to the day to day running of hospitals. Why not use our worksheets to focus your group in the museum? 

During your visit you will be given a short talk outside the Royal Courts of Justice before listening to a court hearing in a criminal appeal. Your group will then be taken to Lincolns Inn, where many of the country’s top barristers have their chambers. The tour finishes at the Old Bailey where your group will be given a talk about the history of the court.

During an educational tour of this unique and medieval prison, your group will have the opportunity to handle original historical torture artefacts relating to crime and punishment used in the prison, witness the terrible conditions of the time, and learn of the prison’s involvement in many major events through audio and visual presentations and the colourful narrative provided by your guide. Self-guided visits are also available.

Develop an understanding on the nature of authority and attitudes to crime and punishment in the early modern period with our school trips to the Tower of London. An ideal opportunity for a more in-depth study of Guy Fawkes and his attempt to destroy the Houses of Parliament in 1605.

A rich learning resource for students in Years 9-13, visits include an orientation session to help prepare and focus students, a visit to the galleries and a feedback session to help students reflect on what they have learned.

This fascinating session begins with a look at the events happening in Nazi-occupied Europe leading up to the outbreak of World War II. Your students will study telegrams, radio intercepts and reports received by the Foreign Office between 1938 and 1944 and will learn about how the events in Nazi-occupied territories unfolded.

The Wiener Library is one of the world’s leading and most extensive archives on the Holocaust and Nazi era. Formed in 1933, the Library’s unique collection of over a million items includes published and unpublished works, press cuttings, photographs and eyewitness testimony. Workshops include The Nazi Games (looking at propaganda and the 1936 Olympics) and Rescues of the Holocaust (looking at individuals who saved lives under Nazi rule).

For groups studying the ‘Elizabethan England, c1568–1603: The Globe Theatre’ site for their AQA specified historic sites GCSE History, we can arrange a interactive, enriching school trip to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to help your students gain a deeper understanding of the site’s history. A 90 minute specific lecture session to correspond to the AQA History syllabus comprises of a tour and an interactive lecture.

Take a walking tour of London to discover medical issues and advances over the years.  Tours can be tailored to cover themes such as Public Health, Plagues or Cholera.

Why was 19th century Whitechapel so difficult to police?  Using original documents from our collection, students will explore the key features of Whitechapel in the 19th century to uncover why this area was such a challenge for the Metropolitan Police. Students will also discover how the police sought to overcome these challenges, from dressing as women to developing silent footwear, in their bid to rid Whitechapel of Jack the Ripper.

For those studying the GCSE option Crime and Punishment in Britain, take a walking tour of the Whitechapel area.  Five of the six most famous murder cases in Britain from 1811-1911, plus a famous Kray Twin murder, the Sidney Street Siege and the Cable Street Riot, all took place in or a stone's throw from Whitechapel.

This walk can be adapted to your study themes, whether it be the Whitechapel of Jack the Ripper, the Krays, some of the other crimes or, a combination of them, we'll cover the social history, the policing and also consider why it is that Whitechapel produced such famous crimes.  

Choose from two Black History guided walking tours in the city led by Anne-Marie Walker, a qualified Blue Badge Guide:

Gold, ivory and slaves - the commodities on which the City of London was built - starting at St Paul’s Cathedral and ending at Bank Station, this walking tour includes the history of black people in England from Roman times; members of the Royal family who were involved in the slave trade; the famous Trial of the Zong at Guildhall;  Livery companies; Shakespeare and Black activists and the powerhouses - Bank of England, Royal Exchange and Mansion House. 

The Hidden Black History of the City of Westminster - based on Black people who were involved behind the scenes in many historic events and institutions, thisguided walking tour covers the Black sailors at the Battle of Trafalgar; Mary Seacole and the Crimean War; the Metropolitan Police - Leroy Logan; the Life Guards and the Queen’s Black Equerry and Buckingham Palace and the Black Queens.  This tour starts at Trafalgar Square and ends at Buckingham Palace.  

Both walking tours last approximately 1.5 - 2 hours.

Anne-Marie Walker lives in London with her family who had emigrated from the West Indies.  She has worked in the tourism industry in Spain and Europe for over 20 years and is a qualified College Lecturer teaching A-Level Business Studies and BTEC Travel and Tourism courses.  

This guided walking tour, led by qualified Blue Badge Guide Anne-Marie Walker, is ideal for students studying the Historic Environment element of the Edexcel 'Migrants in Britain' option for their GCSE History. Your expert guide will take you around the well-known area of Notting Hill - along the route, you will learn about the reasons for Caribbean migration to Notting Hill, the influence of Caribbean cultures on the area, the Notting Hill Riots (1958), Black activism and the development of the Notting Hill Carnival.   

The walking tour last approximately 1.5 - 2 hours.

Anne-Marie Walker lives in London with her family who had emigrated from the West Indies.  She has worked in the tourism industry in Spain and Europe for over 20 years and is a qualified College Lecturer teaching A-Level Business Studies and BTEC Travel and Tourism courses.  

• Morning departure from school.
• Visit The Royal Courts of Justice for a two-hour session to experience debating real cases. 
• Take a Whitechapel Crime, Policing & the Inner City walking tour - our exclusive guided walking tour is ideal for pupils studying Crime and Punishment in Britain or Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: crime, policing and the inner city options for their History GCSE.  Pupils can learn about:

o The environment of Whitechapel of the time

o The role of the police

o Reasons for Jack the Ripper's escape

o View contemporary sources for the period.

• Return journey to school

• Morning departure from school

• Visit the Florence Nightingale Museum to learn about Nightingale’s approach to healthcare.  Use NST’s exclusive worksheets to help guide your group around the museum and focus them. 

• Visit The Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret - understand the nature of surgery before the barriers of infection and pain had been overcome with the reconstruction of an early 19th century operation. 

• Jack the Ripper walking tour in early evening (time permitting)

• Return journey to school

Morning departure from school.

Spend the day in Greenwich guided by a NST Educationalist Guide – visit the Old Royal Naval College where the Palace of Placentia once stood; walk in Greenwich Park where Tudor Monarchs hunted and listen to our guides stories as pupils spot royal street signs. 

Thames river cruise in the early evening.

Return journey to school.