History Summer Programme 2013
Programme Structure
The programme has three units, each delivered by a member of the faculty with specialist
knowledge.
Week One - Unit 1
Life on the Edge: Rich and Poor and Emigration in the Industrial North
In this Unit, we look at people who were on the edge in an economic sense, those who scraped a
living in the industries which were developing in the 18th and 19th centuries, and particularly in the
coal industry. We will follow some of these people as emigrants across the Atlantic to a new land,
beyond the edge, in the United States of America.
Day 1: Working class life in the North-East: study of coal mining families, how they lived, worked and
played. Developing the study of Durham miners who emigrated to the northern states of America.
This will be focusing on culture and social structures to see whether these idiosyncrasies transferred
and set-up across the Atlantic.
Day 2: Gentile life in the North- East. A chance to look at the other side of the coin; looking at the
lives of coal owning families. This workshop focuses on a particular 18th Century gentlewoman,
'Messrs Judith Baker' of Elemore Hall, County Durham; uncovering her controversial political
pastimes and observing how she juggled luxury with prudence.
Day 3: Whole group trip to Beamish. Students will be able to experience a day in the life of a typical
County Durham coal mining family and a gentile family. We will take a trip down the coal mine
before taking a look into the miners’ cottages and village school.
Day 4: Learning Workshop in the University
A background to the northern gentry, particularly those who owned coal mines. We will be looking
at how these families controlled industry and develop an idea of the system of patronage which kept
these families in power
Day 5: History trip to Elemore Hall, County Durham.
An opportunity to take a look into the world of George and Judith Baker. We will also travel a few
miles into Durham City to develop a real sense of the environment in which they lived, worked,
shopped and played.
Week Two – Unit 2
At the Edge of a Kingdom
The theme for this is The Curse of the Reivers! This refers to the endemic marauding and cattle
raiding which took place in the border zone, on the edge between the two kingdoms of England and
Scotland. Your learning in this unit, after an introduction to the theme, will be built around a
historical realisation in a re-enactment which you will script and perform.
Day 1: Learning Workshop in the University
Introduction to the border wars between England and Scotland during the period 1296 – 1603. A
period of time when this region was very much at the edge. We will introduce the border reivers,
explaining who they are, what they did and how they equipped themselves with arms and armour.
Continues…
Day 2: Learning Workshop in the University
We will introduce the Border ballads, songs which carry stories of people and their deeds along the
border. This leads us into the idea of scripting and performing a re-enactment of event and
character. This activity will then be developed in the second part of the week, after a day-long field
visit.
Day 3: Whole-group trip to locations associated with the border wars: Bellingham Hole, Gatehouse
and Black Middings Bastles; on to Hermitage Castle in Liddesdale
Day 4: On Location at Aydon Castle
With the guidance of your tutor, you will develop the script and rehearse the performance for your
re-enactment. You will develop and perform this in the setting of Aydon Castle, a medieval fortified
house in Northumberland.
Day 5: On location at Aydon Castle
On the final day of this Unit you will perform your re-enactment for camera under expert direction.
Week Three – Unit 3
At the Edge of an Empire
The final Unit of the school takes us further back in time, to the period of the 1st – 4th centuries,
when Britannia was a province at the edge of the Roman Empire, and this part of the province was
its frontier: the edge of the civilised world.
Day 1: Learning Workshop in the University
Introduction to Britain and the Roman Empire and the theme of a frontier between Romans and
barbarians. Why the Romans came to Britain and when; why they needed a frontier; who controlled
the frontier and how they lived.
Day 2: Whole Group Trip to Hadrian’s Wall
You will see at first hand Hadrian’s Wall and some of the forts which garrisoned the wall – the
frontier created in the second century. You will have an opportunity to look closely at the visible
remains on site and in the site museums. You will look in particular detail at the forts of
Housesteads and Chesters. You will be able to use the day for information gathering.
Day 3: Museum Visit and Final Round-Up
You will visit Arbeia, one of the frontier forts, at which a fort gateway, the commanding officer’s
house and a soldiers’ barrack block have been reconstructed to give you some sense of how it was to
be placed in fort on the Roman frontier at the edge of Empire. We will then have a final round-up
session for you to gather your thoughts from this unit.
Assessment
The final part of week 3 will be your time to do your final preparations to present your assignments
in a group presentation on the Friday morning. We will give you more guidance on this: how it is to
be set up and the resources available, when you arrive with us in July.