Lancaster Castle and Northern English History

The online short course used iconic Lancaster Castle as an accessible way into the history of northern England. Learners ranged across two millennia of history, from the remains of Roman forts to the castle's life as a prison and a visitor attraction. Our engaging educators responded to the castle and its surroundings in relation to their particular research interests, such as medieval Anglo-Scottish warfare, the witchcraft rials of the seventeenth century and the achievements of prison reformers.

The course lasted for five weeks, each structured around high-quality videos filmed against the impressive backdrop of Lancaster Castle. The videos were accompanied by learning exercises, which tackled a rich variety of primary sources.

The course has been a great success, attracting over 10,000 participants from 128 countries. The course was also nominated for a prestigious national 'Learning on Screen' award. However, it is not currently available pending revision and re-development.

With thanks to:

The Regional Heritage Centre offers profuse thanks to several organisations and individuals for their support during the making of the course. The Duchy of Lancaster has supported us by generously allowing filming within Lancaster Castle, providing images and offering advice throughout the process. The production of the MOOC has been made possible with funding provided by:

• A legacy left to the RHC by the late Dr Margaret Bainbridge
• Lancaster University Impact Fund
• RHC benefactor Dr Philip Welch

We would like to thank Dr Colin Penny, Museum Manager Lancaster Castle, for his help in facilitating filming at the castle, offering advice and participating in two interviews. We would also like to thank Christopher Tinmouth, Professor David Shotter, Dr Sean Cunningham, Charlotte Howsley, Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council's Museum Service, The National Archives, Whalley Abbey, the Royal Kings Arms and Samlesbury Hall.