Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time contains extensive education-related pages which are geared primarily to Keystages 3 and 4, but are also suitable as a teaching resource for primary schools and further education courses. The curriculum-linked pages can be found via the Herefordshire's Past introductory page. These pages contain quotes from a variety of primary and secondary sources; these sources are identified in the text. Unfamiliar history-related vocabulary is also explained in the text. There are many places to visit in Herefordshire suitable for school trips that will give students a more immediate and thought-provoking experience of history. Information on these sites, and how to arrange visits to them, is available in the Sites to Visit section.
In addition to the curriculum-linked sections, there are also general information pages on all historical periods and a variety of topics, including medieval castles, the Saxons, transport, workhouses, Non-conformist chapels, and prisons. There are also guest author essays on various subjects relating to historical aspects of Herefordshire. All these pages can also be accessed from the Herefordshire's Past introductory page.
Herefordshire Through Time is a Heritage Lottery-funded project to make the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) of this county available to a wider audience. The website therefore includes a database containing over 20,000 entries, covering the known archaeological sites and monuments in the county. Another database contains the field-names for Herefordshire taken from the 19th century tithe maps, enclosure awards and estate maps. These freely available databases can enhance the use of ICT in classroom teaching.
The website can serve the history teacher in three ways:
However, you need not be teaching local history to make use of the website. Even though local examples are used, much of the information is general in nature and fully compatible with the textbooks used in English schools. For example, the chapters on medieval Towns and Villages, whilst using examples from Herefordshire, provide the reader with a good background on the development of medieval towns and villages in general.
You can access the database by clicking on the SMR search tab at the top of each website page, or on the link in the menu on the left-hand side of each page. The records detailing the known sites and monuments of the county can be searched by site type (eg. castle), parish (eg. Adforton), period (eg. Medieval AD 1066-AD 1539) or site name, if you know which place you want to see. If, for example, you want to search for sites in Ross-on-Wye, you will find that currently there are 193 for all historical periods. To see an individual record you need to click on the SMR number.
The individual entry is not a source in its own right but a composite of sources, which are footnoted and listed below. The information in the records is based on books, journals, excavation reports or, occasionally, personal observation. You will sometimes find inaccuracies, such as spelling errors, and duplication of information. It has unfortunately been beyond the scope of the SMR website project to allow for a check of all the database's records.
There is a separate Sources database in which you can search for written sources by author, title, collection, date, source type and journal. The sources database can be accessed by clicking onto the word Sources in the text of the SMR database search page or on the Sources button at the bottom of the page.
[Original author: Toria Forsyth-Moser, 2004]
