In this Teachers Pack, children are introduced to an enquiry-based approach to a local study of Belper, in Derbyshire. The focus of the unit is the industrial settlement built by Jedediah Strutt and his successors for their workforce from 1788. The workplace was the cotton mill, part of which, North Mill, can be visited as part of a field trip. This unit will give the children direct access to historical sources and is an excellent chance to develop fieldwork and research skills. The unit also provides an opportunity to consider citizenship issues such as planning for change, conservation, local identity and social responsibility.

 Where the unit fits in

This local study can provide links with the geographical study, Unit 6 ‘Investigating our local area’. In history this resource pack has links with the units designed to investigate Victorian Britain, such as Units11 and 12 ‘What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?’ and ‘How did life change in our locality in Victorian times?’ and could lead on from a study of a famous person, Jedediah Strutt, adapted from Unit 4, and in this way provide a local dimension to a study of a national event, the Industrial Revolution.

Download the Teachers’ Pack – What was it like to live in Belper in the past? (pdf 6.5 MB)