Education Links

There is more to planning a visit to a site like Conisbrough Castle than just making sure that the bus will turn up on time. As many teachers will know, finding useful resources for use in lessons can be time consuming and often quite frustrating.

With this in mind, we at Conisbrough Castle have placed hyperlinks on this page to websites that teachers may find useful in planning lessons connected to their visit to the Castle.

Please note that whilst we make every effort to make sure that all the links below are active, from time to time some will stop working. Conisbrough Castle and English Heritage can not be held responsible for the content of external websites. If you discover a broken link please email us.

schoolshistory.org.uk: This site provides Online History lessons, easy to access background material, GCSE revision tasks and downloadable resources for teachers.

Shields, Knights and Heraldry: Free software for kids to make their own shields (coats of arms). Learn about the Middle Ages, feudalism, knights and chivalry while making a coat of arms. (Shields, Knights and Heraldry requires PC running Windows 3.1, 95 or 98 and a printer. This program allows you to print Heraldic Animals and other Heraldic Devices onto A4 paper so that pupils can colour-in and cut-out then glue down to assemble a coat of arms.)

Build a Medieval Castle: Free educational software. Build your own medieval castle, complete with towers, gatehouse and keep. To understand how an army lay siege to a castle, how a castle was defended, or what it might be like to live in a castle (though this varied by who you were) -- build a model castle. (Build a Medieval Castle requires PC running Windows 3.1, 95 or 98 and a printer. This program allows you to print parts of a medieval castle onto A4 paper or card so that pupils can colour-in and cut-out then assemble a model of a castle.)
Fiddlers Green Paper Models including a fine collection of paper models of medieval buildings all available as reasonably priced PDF downloads or on a CD, just follow the links on the home page and don't be put off or distracted by all the aircraft.
BBC School Homepage: What more needs to be said, the BBC website contains masses of useful and interactive content concerning all aspects of Education and the National Curriculum.
Time Team Website: Here you can catch up on the latest programme updates, see more of the personalities who make Time Team tick as well as unearth more of the archaeology that brings Channel 4's award-winning series to life.

Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval Britain: Part of the Channel 4 History website packed with all the useful information that anyone visiting the age of chivalry would need.

Medieval England: People, politics, warfare, and daily life in medieval England.

History Learning Site Year 7: A simple looking website with loads of information for Year 7s studying medieval realms.

Learn History - Medieval Age: This topic is about Britain after the Norman invasion of 1066. It is known as the Medieval Period or the Middle Ages. You will learn about crazy kings and queens, bloody battles and wars, horrible diseases and huge castles and cathedrals.

Medieval Medicine: Ailments and Cures (Humors, Epidemics, Healing and Hospitals, Surgery and Dissection); Religion, Miracles, Women, Education); plus much more.

Early Music Shop: As well as being an internationally renowned source of early musical instruments, this website also includes with some of their items, a short sound file that allows you to hear what the instrument sounds like as well as what it looks like. So if you don't know your shawms from your crumhorns or your rebecs from your citterns, then take a look here.

Timeref.org Follow the history of Medieval Britain from the time of Alfred the Great, through the Norman Conquest and up to the start of the Tudor Age. Detailed Timelines contain events for years between 800 and 1499AD. Maps show the locations of castles, abbeys and cathedrals in England, Scotland and Wales. Every person and building on this site has its own timeline and links to related subjects.

Google Earth: Want to know more about a specific location? Dive right in -- Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.

TeachersXpress: If you can't find something here to inspire your pupils then they are beyond all hope. This website has been put together with teachers in mind, it covers every aspect of education in the UK in the 21st century. We only looked at the reference section and had to come away because we were finding too many interesting things. Top Site.

Young Archaeologists Club: Offer membership to schools and individuals for a very reasonable fee, it has branches local to Conisbrough Castle and is part of the Council for British Archaeology.

British History Online: is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust, we aim to support academic and personal users around the world in their learning, teaching and research.