In a previous School Trip Friday post, I have told the story of how it came about that I am currently home educating my 8 year old son and on a Friday we spend the day searching out our country’s wonderful rich history and geography.  Now we have a few School Trip Fridays under our belt, it was time to adventure a bit further a field.

This School Trip Friday took place last week and turned out to be a School Trip Long Weekend – from Friday to Monday.  We headed out through Great Dunmow and the flat Essex countryside into the Cambridgeshire Fens and then onwards and upwards to the stunning rugged beauty of Northumbria.  Our destination was the iconic stone barrier running between the Solway in the west and the Tyne in the east – now known as Hadrian’s Wall.  Built by the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, in the second century AD, the wall was not so much to keep out the Picts (as is the common myth) but more as a symbol to show that the Romans were here and here to stay.

We saw so much, did so much, and investigated so much that this particular School Trip Friday will have to be split into several posts.  This first post is of a small part of Hadrian’s Wall near Steal Rigg.

Come join us for our School Trip Friday to Hadrian’s Wall.

Map of Hadrians Wall and Antonine Wall (Matthew Paris c1250)

The rugged landscape of Hadrian’s Wall running alongside Crag Lough.

Contemplating the fact that we were down the bottom and had to be up there.  Also time to explore how echoes work and how loud you have to shout to produce a magnificent rebounding sound!

Hadrian’s Wall running off upwards into the distance.  The wall becomes a reasonably modern farmer’s dry stone wall half way up, then continues on as Hadrian’s Wall.

The long and winding road

Hadrian’s Wall and a small fortification to the side of it.
This is not thought to be a milecastle.

The perilous stone stairs to the top are not known as ‘Cat Stair’s for nothing.  These were, in fact some of the better & safer steps on the climb. The stairs seem to be relatively modernish  – I pity the person who had to build them!

The view from the top looking down to where we once had been.
Hadrian’s Wall snaking off into the distance.  The turf on top of the wall was an early (successful) conservation attempt of the Wall by Victorian land owner, antiquarian, and town clerk, John Clayton.
Good solid Roman engineering.  Each stone perfectly shaped by hand and precisely placed into position using the same style that we see in modern-day brickwork.  Built for strength and durability – the Wall has already lasted for nearly 2,000 years. What did the Romans ever do for us?…

Tiny tiny alpine flowers growing all along the wall.

Father and son enjoying their home education.

Today’s post is dedicated to the team at SEN Legal – whose tireless work on my son’s educational future means that ultimately he will get the correct education he so desperately needs.

In the meantime…. long live School Trip Fridays!

You may also be interested in
– School Trip Friday – Weald and Downland Open Air Museum
– School Trip Friday – Chapel of St Peter’s on the Wall, Bradwell
– School Trip Friday – Imperial War Museum Duxford
– School Trip Friday – Of Cabbages and Kings

London
1) Map of early modern London (1560-1640)
Fully zoomable (using an experimental google-style layered map) and searchable: Map of Early Modern London.

2) Tallis’s London Street views (1838-1840)
The nineteenth century’s equivalent of a modern-day street directory.  This website doesn’t contain zoomable images but because Tallis’s maps are incredible resources for genealogists and local historians, I’ve included it: Tallis’s Street Views of London (and this link shows some of Tallis’s drawings for Bishopsgate).  The Street View of Bishopsgate (below) is in my own personal collection.  To my great delight, it contains the drawing of my ancestors’ factory (Robert and William Parnall) at 100 Bishopsgate.

Tallis’s Street View of Bishopsgate Without. 

3) Richard Horwood’s Map of London  (1792-1799)
 Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster,the Borough of Southwark, and Parts Adjoining (includes ‘every House’):  Horwood’s Map of London Update June 2012: sadly this is now a broken link as the website no longer exists.  If anyone finds another online map of Horwood’s London, please can you email me.

4) Locating London’s Past (using John Rocques’ 1746 map)
The map uses a GIS interface to enable researchers to plot and chart data relating to London in the 17^th and 18^th century: Locating London’s Past.

5) William Newton’s London and Westminster in the time of Henry VIII (pre 1530)
This map was made in 1855 and was compiled from documents and sources by Newton.  The map is pre-Reformation and the 1530’s dissolution of the monasteries: London and Westminster in Henry VIII’s time. Update June 2012: sadly this is now a broken link as the website no longer exists.  If anyone finds another online map of William Newton’s London, please can you email me.

Great Britain
6) The Gough Map of Great Britain (medieval c1360)
Fully zoomable and searchable map of medieval England, Scotland and Wales.  Searchable by using either the modern-day names or the medieval names of towns:  Gough’s Map

Great Dunmow (Donemowe)
according to Gough’s Map of Great Britain.

7) John Speed’s Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain & counties (1611-12)
John Speed’s Map of Great Britain and Ireland.  The site is Cambridge University’s online zoomable website containing all John Speed proof maps including one of Great Britain and Ireland , and also images every 1600s county of England, Wales, Scotland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and Ireland: John Speed’s proof maps.

There are plenty more websites out there which use modern-day technology on old maps.  If you know of any others, please let me know.

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If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– The craft of being a historian: Research Techniques
– The craft of being a historian: Analysing primary sources
– The craft of being a historian: Using maps for local history
– The craft of being a historian: Online resources

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.

Genealogist Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers runs a great website for genealogists. He suggests ‘Daily Blogging Prompts’ to help inspire bloggers to write genealogical posts.  In the spirit of one of his Prompts, Follow Friday, my post today contains my top 10 Essex related websites  for genealogical and local history research.

1. For archives, Essex Record Office’s online catalogue:  http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/

2. Ancestor owned or ran a pub in Essex?  Try Pub History

Royal Oak pub in Great Dunmow. Left picture has the figure of the landlord, James Nelson Kemp (my grandfather’s uncle), and the right picture is of his son, Gordon Parnall Kemp (my grandfather’s cousin), killed in the Great War and commemorated on the town’s War Memorial along with his brother, Harold.

3. The history of various towns and villages in Essex:  http://www.historyhouse.co.uk/

4. The early-modern witches of Essex:  http://www.witchtrials.co.uk/ (This site also contains an essay by me which I wrote when I first started my research into witchcraft in early-modern Essex – see if you can spot it!)

5. Essex churches: http://www.essexchurches.info/

6. Roll of Honour for the war dead of Essex:  http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Essex//

7. Francis Firth for images of Essex past: http://www.francisfrith.com/essex/

8. For postcards of Essex towns and villages: http://www.ebay.co.uk

9. The Recorders of Uttlesford’s history: http://www.recordinguttlesfordhistory.org.uk/

10. Website with links to early-modern and modern Essex: Genmaps – Essex

And, of course, if your ancestor lived in early-modern Great Dunmow, then this website, Essex Voice Past!

Another one to add to my list!
Update 9 March 2012 at 19:30: I’ve realised I’ve made a glaring admission in my Top 10.  This one is definitely up there amongst my favourite sites.

Was you ancestor in a workhouse? This is an amazing site, be prepared to lose a few hours pouring over it!: http://www.workhouses.org.uk/

Have I missed any of your favourites? Let me know…

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This blog
If you want to read more from my blog, please do subscribe either by using the Subscribe via Email button top right of my blog, or the button at the very bottom.  If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then please do Like it with the Facebook button and/or leave a comment below.

Thank you for reading this post.

You may also be interested in the following
– The craft of being a historian: Research Techniques
– The craft of being a historian: Analysing primary sources
– The craft of being a historian: Using maps for local history
– The craft of being a historian: Online resources

© Essex Voices Past 2012-2013.