-
Volunteering in Museums & Galleries
Briefing Pack
The Museums Association has written a short guide to volunteering with museums.
Tips on volunteering
Don't limit your efforts to national and large regional museums and galleries. They are probably overwhelmed with requests for voluntary work
Apply to smaller local museums. You are likely to get a broader range of...
Volunteering in Museums & Galleries
-
Volunteering in Heritage
Briefing Pack
How to: get a volunteering placement in heritage
Rachel Clark, Volunteering Adviser, National Trust has written a useful mini guide to getting a volunteering placement which can be found here...
Volunteering with Heritage Organisations
There are many different organisations across the UK dedicated to preserving our cultural heritage. If you want to...
Volunteering in Heritage
-
Archives
Briefing Pack
1. Local Archives
Local Archives Offices contain an enormous amount of information including Census records, newspapers and property records. They are a useful point of call when either verifying information found on the internet or conducting deeper research beyond what is available on the main sources of family history such...
Archives
-
The British Association for Local History (BALH)
History Network
The British Association for Local History is the national charity which promotes local history and serves local historians. Its purpose is to encourage and assist the study of local history as an academic discipline and as a rewarding leisure pursuit for both individuals and groups.
Local history enriches our lives...
The British Association for Local History (BALH)
-
The Royal Historical Society (RHS)
History Network
The Royal Historical Society (RHS)
-
The Institute of Historical Research (IHR)
History Network
The Institute of Historical Research (IHR)
-
Archaeology on the edge
Historian article
Major archaeological projects can be complex affairs, in terms of their funding, governance and the wide range of historical and technological expertise they require. Here National Trust archaeologist Kathy Laws describes the intricacies and successes of a multi-organisational project at an Iron Age site in north Wales. The challenges of the...
Archaeology on the edge
-
Sophisticated living in sub-Roman Britain
Historian article
It has been assumed for a long time that sub-Roman Britain, the period between the Romans leaving the island in the early fifth century and the settlement of the Anglo-Saxons in the sixth century, was a period of rapid cultural and economic decline. Recent archaeological discoveries at Chedworth Villa in...
Sophisticated living in sub-Roman Britain
-
Out and About: The Parish Armoury in St Mary’s Church, Mendlesham
Historian feature
In the Tudor and early Stuart period most towns and villages had a legal obligation to store arms and armour in case of a national emergency. Here Shona Rutherford-Edge tells the story of the parish armoury in the Suffolk village of Mendlesham, which was kept in the local church and from which many...
Out and About: The Parish Armoury in St Mary’s Church, Mendlesham
-
Doing history: The Old Poor Law in a Regency York Parish 1795–1847
Historian feature
In this regular feature called Doing History, history enthusiasts describe a piece of research they have undertaken and how it sheds light on aspects of local and national history. Here Steve Barrett shows how his exploration of archives in York provided interesting insights into the controversial issue of poor relief, with a focus...
Doing history: The Old Poor Law in a Regency York Parish 1795–1847
-
From our branches: The Bristol Branch
Historian feature
It is always fascinating to find out about some of the many varied activities being undertaken by local branches of the Historical Association. Here Mary Feerick and Rob Pritchard relate the successes of the Bristol branch, which was only restarted in 2017. The branch has managed to engage local people...
From our branches: The Bristol Branch
-
Out and About in ‘The most Loyal and Ancient City of Taunton’
Historian feature
The Somerset town of Taunton featured prominently in the highly significant political and religious conflicts of the seventeenth century. Isabella Peach examines Taunton’s role in these events and the impact they had on the town. Her article is based on her winning entry in the 2023 Young Historian Post-16 Local...
Out and About in ‘The most Loyal and Ancient City of Taunton’
-
My Favourite History Place: A Short History of Brill
Historian feature
In this article Josephine Glover discusses the long history of her ‘favourite history place’, the Buckinghamshire village of Brill. She explains how there has been a human settlement there since Mesolithic times. Using various fragments of evidence, she pieces together the extent to which the village was important to early...
My Favourite History Place: A Short History of Brill
-
Crowdsourcing the heritage of the Second World War
Historian article
Stuart Lee, Ylva Berglund Prytz and Matthew Kidd introduce an innovative project to capture objects and the memories they hold.
Crowdsourcing the heritage of the Second World War
-
Robert Branford: a faithful servant of Southwark
Historian article
Stephen Bourne explains how he pieced together the story of Robert Branford, the earliest known mixed-race officer in the Metropolitan Police, who faithfully served the people of Southwark in the Victorian era.
Robert Branford: a faithful servant of Southwark
-
My Favourite History Place: The Holburne Museum
Historian feature
Jane A. Mills describes in this article how the fascination of Holburne Museum in Bath comes partly from the historical objects on display but also from the varied history of the building itself. She explains how the recent development of the museum illustrates the ongoing issue of trying to resolve...
My Favourite History Place: The Holburne Museum
-
My Favourite History Place: Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station
Historian feature
Glimpsed from the window of a speeding train, as it hurtles north across the Royal Border Bridge and towards Edinburgh, the modest station at Berwick-upon-Tweed would seem an unlikely spot for one of the most momentous episodes in British history; but step off the train, walk up the stairs, and allow...
My Favourite History Place: Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station
-
Out and About on Uzbekistan’s Silk Road
Historian feature
“For lust of knowing what should not be known— We make the Golden Journey to Samarkand.”
So wrote poet James Elroy Flecker in 1913, who had perhaps an unduly romantic view of what motivated many of Uzbekistan’s earlier visitors. A more realistic explanation was proffered in the thirteenth century by the Persian...
Out and About on Uzbekistan’s Silk Road
-
Out and About in Hull’s Old Town
Historian feature
Sylvia Usher explores a hidden gem in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Wenceslaus Hollar’s map of seventeenth century Hull can be a street guide for the Old Town even today. Modern Hull sprawls along the Humber estuary with residential areas fanning out for three miles or more. Hull as it was...
Out and About in Hull’s Old Town
-
Making History
New Website
Making History
Making History, developed by the Institute of Historical Research, is dedicated to the history of the study and practice of history in Britain over the last hundred years and more, following the emergence of the professional discipline in the late 19th century.
Contents
This website contains cross-referenced entries...
Making History
-
Tourism: the birth and death of the little Welsh town?
Historian article
Millie Punshon is a sixth form student in North Wales and was one of this year's finalists in the HA's Great Debate public speaking competition.
It is no unknown fact that the Victorian city-slickers adored the north coast of Wales, and without them towns such as Llandudno, Beaumaris, and Betws-y-Coed may not have...
Tourism: the birth and death of the little Welsh town?
-
My Favourite History Place: the Berlin Wall
Historian feature
Military history enthusiast David Wilson writes about why the Berlin Wall is still such an important symbol and reminder.
I first visited Berlin in the mid 1980s when I was stationed in Germany as part of the British Army. It was an interesting place to go because until then the Cold...
My Favourite History Place: the Berlin Wall
-
Out and About in Wheathampstead
Historian feature
Dianne Payne examines the structural local history of Wheathampstead and provides a template for wider comparisons.
The rural village of Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, situated about four miles from St Albans, lies on the River Lea. The village and surrounding land has a long history and in ancient times was owned by the...
Out and About in Wheathampstead
-
Real Lives: Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson
Historian feature
Wendy Barnes describes the real lives of identical twins, Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson, who collected a vast quantity of paintings and art objects, much of which was donated to museums around the world. The twins’ final home, Little Hall, Lavenham is now a museum and the headquarters of The Suffolk...
Real Lives: Robert and Thomas Gayer-Anderson
-
Out and About in Cairo
Historian feature
Nicolas Kinloch guides us round the fascinating city of Cairo.
Cairo has always been a traveller’s destination. That indefatigable explorer, ibn Battuta, arrived there in 1326, and declared that it was ‘boundless in its multitude of buildings, peerless in beauty and splendour...extending a friendly welcome to strangers’. Most of this is...
Out and About in Cairo
