Borrow a curriculum-linked Discovery Box to enliven your topic lessons and display, available for a range of historical periods. £25 for a two-week loan or £45 for a half-term.

List of Discovery Boxes (PDF File, 105kb)

"I'd definitely recommend this service to all schools. You've made it so easy. My class have loved having the artefacts to look at and touch and it's really extended our knowledge" – Ms Peterken, Coddington Primary School

These special loan boxes bring your topic to life with a combination of digital resources and high quality replicas of our collection.

Each box contains:

• A selection of replica objects
• A ‘Museum in a Box’, which uses sound files to help describe each object
• A link to supporting online resources such as films, sound files, 3D scanned objects and a teacher pack of information, images and activity suggestions

Box topics currently available:

Museum of Me (KS1-2): Make a museum in your own classroom, inspired by our mysterious talking artefacts. The Museum Box includes display resources and guidance to help you plan, design, market and run your own museum. £60 for a half-term loan (collection only). Courier service can be arranged for an additional £60.

Trial and Execution (KS3, KS5): Interactive resources for up to 6 lessons. Examine the events leading up to the execution of Charles I, including Pride’s Purge, using replica objects and digital media. Then re-enact the trial of the King by turning your classroom into the Painted Chamber and using our props, character films and costumes to bring it to life. Was the trial legal? Should the King have lost his head? Let your students decide. And what of the Regicides? We find out more about them and what happened next. £80 for a two-week loan (collection only). Courier service can be arranged for an additional £120.

More Object Theatre Boxes coming soon!

Learning At Home Units (KS2)

Created as modules of work to complete while learning from home, they contain some fantastic resources to help with lesson and homework planning.  Activities include podcasts, films, reading and writing tasks, recipes, quizzes, drama and craft.

Ideal for Home-schooling families too!

Learning at Home Unit 1 - At Home In The Seventeenth Century (PDF File, 100kb) 

Learning At Home Unit 2 - How To Fight A Civil War (PDF File, 96kb) 

An Introduction to the Civil War (KS2-3)

A complete 1 hour lesson, with pause-and-play video: Adapting our most sought-after in-person session, this is an action-packed summary of the events leading up to this hugely significant conflict, its causes and results. It is a full lesson which asks children to physically engage with the content as well as offering breaks to discuss questions posed. The session is presented by two engaging in-costume actors who portray a variety of key characters from the period including King Charles I himself.

You could prepare for the session by making costumes from the Civil WARdrobe.

Civil WARdrobe (KS2)

Make your own costumes for Design & Technology, using these simple guides.

Hey Ho! Charlie Boy: A Civil War Sea Shanty

We're getting in on the sea shanty craze with a 17th century twist. Keeping it sea-themed, our very own shanty explores one of the primary causes of the Civil War: King Charles' ship tax!

TES Shop

Visit our TES shop for more resources.

British Civil Wars website

Designed for Key Stage 3 students, this website is packed full of activities and primary sources to help you learn about the British Civil Wars.

Interviews

In these interviews, eleven 17th century people tell you about their role in the Civil Wars. 

Women of the Civil War gallery tour

Our placement students from the University of Connecticut worked with us to create a virtual tour about women during the Civil War. It brings together their research and perspective as well as lots of our fascinating existing assets. Secondary school students can find the Women of the Civil War gallery tour hosted on Matterport.

Self-guided virtual tour of the National Civil War Centre: Interactive content links to the AQA, OCR and Edexcel History syllabus. Made possible with a grant from Art Fund, the resource allows students and teachers to explore our collections, clicking on blue tags for detailed object labels and media such as photos, databases and interactives, and yellow tags for fascinating mini-lectures from 12 of our academic partners. See our A Level page for more info.

Between 1641 and 1652, war ravaged the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. Few places escaped the reach of the wars and many houses, towns and cities fell under siege. Approximately 21,000 people, nearly a quarter of all those killed in the wars, lost their lives during sieges. The Civil War Siege Database allows you to explore the dramatic, wild and often chaotic stories behind every siginificant siege fought dring the Civil War. (Underpinning data migrated from Civil War Siege App at National Civil War Centre. Construction of app by Stephen Charnock).

A new GeoApp by Stephen Charnock allows visitors to explore the Campaigns and Battles of the British Civil Wars. Still being developed by Stephen, a volunteer at the National Civil War Centre, you can explore new content as it is added. Interpretation of the campaigns and battles have been taken from various sources and reflect the best understanding derived from these sources.

• Print Explosion Creativity Interactive (PDF File, 7,623kb) Explore the Print Explosion in our Creativity gallery and learn more about the ideas circulating in print in the 17th century.
• Civil War Petitions educational resources
• A Newcastle University blog about the sieges of Newark and their effects on the town
• Nottinghamshire Day Civil War pack, produced in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council

Browse our YouTube channel for lots more to learn and make.