London History School Trips & Tours - British History

After a major redevelopment in 2014, the museum now features groundbreaking new 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.

Offered on Mondays, groups can take a themed tour around the majestic abbey and learn how it was affected in WWII.

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.

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. 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).

Suitable for KS3 groups - explore medical gore and more from the First World War. Investigate the history of wartime medicine and innovation and how this has influenced medicine today with the 'War of the Wards' show from Centre of the Cell.
The show contains sections on the following:

• Nursing in WW1 
• Developments in blood transfusion
• Gas attacks and gas masks
• Medical dressings and bandages 
• Prosthetic limbs

On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, British forces sustained 57,000 casualties, creating a medical emergency of unprecedented scale and severity.

On 29 June 2016 a new exhibition will open at the Science Museum, commemorating the centenary of this momentous battle and the huge medical and human impact of wounding during and beyond WWI.

Wounded: Conflict, Casualties and Care will draw on the Science Museum’s extensive WWI medical collections as well as the words of the wounded and those who cared for them to explore the remarkable medical responses and innovations catalysed by this conflict.

Beyond the battlefields, the exhibition will also focus on the longer-term impact of the war on the soldiers who were left physically and mentally affected, and show how the medical lessons learnt still carry relevance today.

The City of London Police Museum takes visitors on a unique journey, which includes the last hours of Catherine Eddowes, one of Jack the Ripper’s victims; bomb damage during the Blitz; being at the forefront of technology to counter terrorism and the current work against economic crime and cybercrime.

Visit the National Army Museum and find out how Britain’s past has helped to shape our present and future. Discover the impact our Army has had on the story of Britain, Europe and the world, and see how the actions of a few can affect the futures of many.

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.

This new guided walking tour in London is ideal for students studying Crime and Punishment in Britain or Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: crime, policing and the inner city options for their History GCSE. Led by a guide with examining experience, your group will discover the area of Whitechapel and learn about:

•    The environment of Whitechapel of the time
•    The role of the police
•    Reasons for Jack the Ripper's escape
•    View contemporary sources for the period

A morning talk at the Viaduct Tavern opposite the Old Bailey, which includes a hot drink and a croissant. Hear about the fascinating history of the Old Bailey, and the places of interest around it, such as the pub where wealthy people rented rooms to get the best view of the public executions and an exclusive view of the old Newgate Prison gaol cells. Afterward, we can direct you straight to the most interesting cases on at the Old Bailey that day. For schools, colleges and universities, a special teachers’ information pack is available which includes a history of the Old Bailey and an Old Bailey timeline. 

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 experience at Shakespeare’s Globe 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.

This session is held in Europe’s oldest surviving operating theatre, where hundreds of surgeons would have once gathered and learnt their trade by watching the various surgical procedures that took place. Your group will experience the atmosphere of this uniquely evocative space, as museum staff reconstruct an operation before the arrival of anaesthesia and antiseptics. 

This stimulating session allows active exploration of curriculum subjects in relation to real historic artifacts. It specifically designed for KS4/5 students studying GCSE History, covering Edexcel: Medicine through time, c12 50-present. AQA: Health and the People.

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.