Creative Teaching and Learning

Routes for exploring Viking-age Britain

The history of the Scandinavian raiders’ struggles with their land-locked English foes is a story we’re all familiar with, but a Museum in Schools programme helps young people get to grips with their history, sparking interest through practical learning.

An interactive exhibition at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, Valhalla- Life & Death in Viking Age Britain, developed by the Viking experts from York Archaeological Trust’s JORVIK Group sought to highlight British history to make it more accessible for young pupils. It has now moved to another location, but it set the successful foundation for the Museum in School programme.

Viking-era England

The earliest reference to Viking activity in Shropshire dates from 855. A charter of King Burghred of Mercia issued in that year mentions the recent appearance of ‘pagans’ near the Wrekin hill, but no other details are given.

855 is an important year in Viking history, as it marks the point when Viking raiders from Scandinavia began to over-winter in England, rather than returning home after their summertime raids. A new base in England may have allowed them to raid further west than had been possible before. Ten years later, a ‘Great Heathen Army’ of Vikings invaded and began to overwhelm the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Burghred was deposed and replaced by a puppet-king, Ceolwulf, chosen by the Vikings. The only kingdom to survive was Wessex, under the leadership of King Alfred the Great.

Developing a Viking Raiders education workshop

The word ‘Viking’ comes with a great deal of historical baggage, conjuring up macho, bearded raiders with a penchant for brutality and horned helmets. The Valhalla exhibition and ‘Viking Raiders’ workshop aimed to investigate and dispel some of these myths.

Teaching Viking history in a museum setting has a foundation in evidence- based enquiry but harnesses children’s pre-conceptions of our raiding and invading ancestors in fun filled role-play scenarios and group discussion.

The learning team at Shropshire Museums and Archives partnered with JORVIK’s Interpretation team to develop a workshop for Key Stage 2 to encourage and support visits to the Valhalla exhibition. The workshop aims to involve all children in active, inclusive, curriculum-linked learning through object handling, role-play and group discussion and explores the impact and legacy of Viking-era raids in Shropshire from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. The sessions take place in a specially designed story corner, led by a skilled museum educator and aims to uncover some of the myths of the Viking age with opportunities to handle Viking kit, hear tales of gods and goddesses and to re-enact a blood-thirsty battle. Pupils are guided through a range of imaginary scenarios inspired by real events in a fun and engaging 90-minute session.

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