At Newark Civil War Centre, your pupils can meet a 17th-century character and explore the town, train as Civil War soldiers, try to survive a siege, crack codes as spies and explore our breath-taking galleries.
All our staff and pupils thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the National Civil War Centre. The range of activities was great and very well organised.
Every visit includes:
We recommend our Arms and Armour session and your choice of one or two other workshops, but your programme can be tailored to your requirements.
All of our sessions are fully facilitated and inclusive.
Help the King defend Newark. Take part in army training in our interactive and object-based session. Dress up as different types of soldiers and handle replica weapons from the battlefield.
Meet Prince Rupert and his magical pet dog Boye in this puppet-based storytelling session. Learn about Roundheads and Cavaliers and why they were fighting, handle replica objects and find out how Prince Rupert saved the important town of Newark.
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| Primary learning brochure | 10.01 MB |
Train as an infantry soldier and investigate replica armour and weapons used on the Civil War battlefield. Learn about different types of soldiers, find out how they fought and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their equipment.
Meet John or Elizabeth Twentyman. Walk with them to find Newark’s surviving Civil War buildings and hear the stories they help to tell. Discover why Newark was such an important town and learn about sieges in this fun participatory tour.
Survive a siege in 1646. Bring to life the real townspeople of Newark during its third and final siege. Work in groups to solve the problems faced by the town and learn about civilian life during the conflict.
Join a spy ring and become part of the King’s intelligence network. Guided by a 17th-century spy, crack coded messages and decide which East Midlands town should
become the King’s ‘Key to the North’. This hands-on session introduces pupils to Civil War spying techniques and the strategy needed to win a war.
Meet Mr Clifton, Newark’s barber surgeon, and find out how wounds were treated in the 17th century through object handling and film.
We have three options to choose from:
Accompanying adults are free for groups of 12 or more.
Unable to visit the museum? We offer livestreamed sessions to one or more classrooms using your choice of digital platform.
Enhance your classroom teaching with replica objects and accompanying activities.
Our free-to-access online resource ‘Upside-Down World’ includes real, accessible 17th-century source material, 3D scanned museum objects and downloadable classroom activities to resource enquiry-based learning in the KS2 classroom before, after or instead of a visit.
We also offer sessions on other historical periods including Prehistory, Anglo Saxons and the Medieval period, as well as a range of loan boxes.
Your bus can pull into a convenient drop-off bay outside St Mary’s church, opposite the museum. Find out more about parking.
Arrival runs smoothly if students are seated in pre-arranged groups and disembark in group order. A member of the Learning Team will greet you and help lead the students safely inside the museum to leave their bags and coats in a designated lunch space.
Timetables are provided for each member of staff on the day of your visit. These are only provided in advance for bookings of more than 90 students.
A visit to our gift shop for pocket money treats can be arranged only if booked in advance.
