I shall be taking a minibus of students on the afternoon of Wed 8th May 2019 [NB THIS HAS CHANGED] to the Warwickshire Record Office, in Warwick, for a behind-the-scenes tour of the archive and an opportunity to see a variety of types of manuscripts, maps and other documents. The trip, which will be led by the County Archivist, should appeal to anyone thinking of a career in museums and archives; anyone thinking of a dissertation or project that might make use of local materials; or anyone wanting to see the material record of the early modern past. We shall leave at 2.20 from outside the Humanities building and aim to return by 5 or soon after. Places are limited to the 16 seats in the minibus and allocated on a first-come basis, though if necessary priority may be given to those who did not go on the visit to St Mary's Church.

Student experiences:

visit to St Mary's Church, Warwick, Nov 2018:

'I found it so useful to see a visual representation of the ideological conflict of the Reformation. When looking at the different parts of the Church it showed me the various typical traits of Catholic and Protestant worship which contributed to the Reformation. Also, to engage with a local historical place was great and it's encouraged me to visit more places like it in the future!' Lucy Burn

'The trip was an opportunity to see more in detail the parts of this fantastic church and discover the historical relevance of Warwick in the Early Modern England. The guide was also really helpful and she made us the visit clear and enjoyable. It was a very good initiative to approach us in a different manner to the subject' Pedro Caro Escardo

And from the previous year: 'There’s only so much you can learn from books. They’re obviously a great place to start, but nothing beats getting a chance to look at the real thing! Our visit to St Mary’s Church in Warwick brought the Reformation to life in my mind - getting the chance to talk to some real experts on the building and how it has changed since the Middle Ages was invaluable to my studies. It has completely changed the way I see churches; I never knew about the brightly coloured walls, or just how many images were painted across them. The visit made the effects of iconoclasm all the more real, being able to see what had been removed or destroyed (and perhaps more interestingly, what had been left untouched). I’d definitely recommend the visit to anyone who wants to bring what they’ve read into life!' Kathryn Ponder

'St Mary's is a fascinating Church largely due to its unique interior, which exhibits a range of architectural styles from the Norman period through to the early modern period. The Beauchamp chapel hinted at the vibrancy of medieval Catholicism which was shown through the iconography intricately carved in stone and remnants of blue and red coloured walls. The Nave, (which was rebuilt in 1704), showed the comparatively mundane transformation in style which took place after the Reformation. Overall, the experience helped me to understand how religious change visually manifested itself as a reflection of changing religious ideas and practices, bringing this aspect of the course to life.' Susi Grove

Warwickshire Record Office

visit31 Jan 2018

Will Garbett:

'Handling early modern documents was very rewarding, seeing and touching historical artifacts was a nice change from abstract history. It was also really useful to get a better idea of what work in a record office was like, in terms of thinking about careers in history.'