Year 12 Historians visit the Tower

On 25th May 2023 Mr Pollard and Mrs Godden took 15 of our Year 12 History students to attend a special session on the Wars of the Roses hosted by historian Lauren Johnson (author: ‘Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI’) at the Tower of London.

The opening 25 minutes focused on the reliability and usefulness of the Tower of London as a source for studying the Wars of the Roses. They then spent the rest of the session visiting the site to specific areas of notoriety such as the ‘Bloody Tower’ and Chapel where Henry VI was allegedly murdered.

At each stop students were critically analysing sources to check the reliability of such claims and whether these names really tell us much about what happened. They touched on all the key areas of the unit, looking at Henry VI and his life as well as Richard III’s bloody usurpation of power in 1483. It was an enlightening and thought-provoking visit that was expertly handled by Lauren.

All students were engaged, they participated in discussions and readings of the sources. They came up with some fantastic questions and points that demonstrated how much they have learnt over this past year. All 15 were a credit to the school and themselves throughout the whole day.