Description:
A look at one carving on the outer wall of Durham Cathedral.
This short task is aimed at demonstrating the influence of legends on Historians. The questions lead the pupils towards an assessment of the importance of legends and stories to people’s views of the past. The story of the milkmaid and the siting of Durham Cathedral is well known in the North East, but we feel that the ideas behind the task are generic, and can be used out of context.
The objectives as laid out are designed for the start of a series of lessons, we feel that this activity could be used to start a series of lessons on the value of local stories, thus leading to lessons on an important local topic.
Pupils are expected to evaluate the importance of the legend to the two historians, the higher ability should conclude that although there is little evidence to support the story, the story is still important, as it adds to the mystique of St. Cuthbert, the saint who’s mausoleum brought great wealth to the Cathedral.
We feel that an understanding of the history of Durham Cathedral is not essential, although teachers need to be aware of the importance of St. Cuthbert to Durham Cathedral.
The task can be used with or without the questions, as it is just a simple source assessment activity, designed mainly for KS4 pupils, but with some adaptation it could be used for KS3 pupils looking at Medieval beliefs, Cathedrals or religion.
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