There is a wealth of archaeological and historic sites in Devon that can be incorporated into local case studies to teach history and prehistory. You can search Heritage Gateway for sites near you, or see the examples below and on the menu to the right.
We hope to continue to add specific examples and images, and links to new resources (at the end of the page), so please keep checking back and let us know if there is anything you would particularly like to see on these pages.
If you are a teacher we would welcome your feedback on how these resources can be made more useful for you. Please contact us.
The national curriculum states that pupils should be taught about:
Key Stage 1
Changes within living memory
More information about Modern Devon.
Examples include:
- Vanishing wreck at Westward Ho!
- D-Day practice sites in North Devon
- The Second World War Taunton Stop Line in East Devon
- Cold War sites in North Devon
Events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
More information about Modern Devon includes the mining World Heritage Site.
Events in Devon that are beyond living memory and are significant nationally or globally include:
- Civil War – Chudleigh Fort, Bideford
- Fire Beacons, including Culmstock and Shute (Colyton)
The lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements
Places associated with significant individuals from Devon include:
- Buckland Abbey – Sir Francis Drake
- Hayes Barton – Sir Walter Raleigh
- Compton Castle – Sir Humphrey Gilbert
- Sandridge Barton – John Davies, 16th century explorer
- John Graves Simcoe, first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada and commander of the West of England defence during the Napoleonic Wars, is associated with Wolford Chapel in Dunkeswell, Hemyock Castle House and Worsewell Battery.
- Juanita Phillips, Devon’s first woman councillor and a suffragette, is associated with various historic places in Honiton including 128 High Street (now the Jobcentre), Little Theatre, Dowell Street housing, War Memorial and The Glen ornamental gardens.
Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality
Any of the examples given on this page can be used as significant historical places, people or events that happened in Devon.
Key stage 2
Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age
More information about Prehistoric Devon.
In the North Devon Coast AONB, the National Mapping Programme project recorded Mesolithic land surfaces and Neolithic structures, Bronze Age funerary monuments, Iron Age hillforts, field systems and boundaries.
Further examples of prehistoric sites include:
- Bronze Age Burial Mounds on Bursdon Moor, Hartland
- Milber Down Iron Age Hillfort, Newton Abbot
- Hembury Iron Age Hillfort, Payhembury
- Bolt Tail Iron Age Promontory Fort, Malborough
- Dolbury Iron Age Hillfort, Killerton
- Bronze Age Trackway and Iron Age Village at Clyst Heath
The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain
More information about Roman Devon.
Examples of Roman sites include a fort, a farm, a bakehouse and a possible roadside settlement in Topsham
Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
More information about Post-Roman Devon.
The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor
More information about Post-Roman Devon.
A local history study
Any of the examples given on this page can be used as part of a local history study.
A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066
More information about Medieval Devon and Post-medieval Devon.
See Key Stage 3 (below) for examples.
The achievements of the earliest civilizations
Information about early civilizations including Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China can be found at some of the local museums in Devon.
Ancient Greece
Information about Ancient Greece can be found at some of the local museums in Devon.
A non-European society that provides contrasts with British history
Information about non-European societies can be found at some of the local museums in Devon.
Key stage 3
The development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509
More information about Medieval Devon.
Examples include:
The development of Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745
More information about Post-medieval Devon.
Examples include:
- Tavistock Abbey, West Devon
- Church of St. Disen, Bradninch
- Chudleigh Civil War Fort, Bideford
- Prayerbook Rebellion Battlefields at Fenny Bridges, Woodbury, Clyst and Sampford Courtenay
Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain, 1745-1901
More information about Modern Devon.
Examples include:
Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to the present day
More information about Modern Devon.
Examples include:
- Sites associated with suffragettes include 128 High Street, Honiton (and other places listed above under ‘Juanita Phillips’) and St Anne’s Chapel, Saunton (stained glass window by Mary Lowndes).
- D-Day practice sites in North Devon
- Cold War sites in North Devon
A local history study
Any of the examples given on this page can be used as part of a local history study.
The study of an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066
More information about Prehistoric Devon, Roman Devon, and Post-Roman Devon.
See above (key stages 1 and 2) for examples.
At least one study of a significant society or issue in world history and its interconnections with other world developments.
Information can be found at some of the local museums in Devon
Other useful sources:
- Story of England (chronological journey through the key periods in England’s past) – English Heritage
- Heritage Schools – Historic England
- Teaching History with 100 Objects – British Museum
- Collections Explorer – objects in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
- Prehistory Teacher’s Kit – Historic England
- Images of the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age – English Heritage
- Activity ideas – Young Archaeologist’s Club
- Home Front Legacy of the First World War videos and posters – Young Archaeologist’s Club
- Round-up of prehistoric sites, museums and resources for Devon – Schools Prehistory
- Discover the Iron Age: School Resources – North Devon AONB
- School Resources – Dunkeswell War Stories
- Blackdowns Metal Makers – Blackdown Hills AONB
- Learning about the past – Canterbury Archaeological Trust
- War memorial lesson plans, resources and project ideas – War Memorials Trust