A year of work from the Learning Team at Newark’s National Civil War Centre, in collaboration with Newcastle University’s Education Outreach Team, came to fruition with the launch of a new website for Key Stage 3 students.

The site, which can be found at britishcivilwars.ncl.ac.uk, aims to help develop knowledge and understanding of the British Civil Wars among 11 to 14-year-olds with fascinating facts, videos, quizzes, activities and engaging illustrations.

Taking inspiration from National Civil War Centre artefacts and the Civil War tracts in Newcastle University Special Collections, and drawing on the expertise of historian, Professor Rachel Hammersley, from Newcastle University, the website will provide opportunities for students to engage with rich primary source material and develop their source comprehension, interpretation and analysis skills.

The National Civil War Centre’s volunteers have been involved in the site’s creation, with some getting involved in research and proofreading while the museum was closed.

Sarah Clarke, learning and participation manager at the National Civil War Centre, said: “This is such a significant period in British history, which has been sorely overlooked in the past. We’re delighted to be able to provide this great resource to help young people look at the conflict’s chronology, cause and consequence, as well as the changes it wrought in 17th Century society that still echo today. Our two teams have been working hard on this for almost a year and we’re enormously excited to see it out in the open and starting to make a positive impact.”

After the launch of the site, the teams are planning to continue work with the schools, having just begun a Dragon’s Den style competition for students to pitch an idea for a new quiz, the winners of which will be added to the website this autumn.

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