Durham County Record Office: the official archive service for County Durham and Darlington

Tudor Durham

Maps and parish registers are used to illustrate life in Tudor Durham and explore what happened in the Northern Rebellion of 1569.

These resources support Key Stage 2 History, QCA History Unit 8: What were the differences between the lives of rich and poor people in Tudor times? and Unit 18: 'What was it like to live here in the past? Other curriculum links include creative writing, geography and drama. This unit was developed in 2010.

Tudor Durham - Introduction

What did Durham look like in Tudor times? Who lived there? What sort of jobs did they do? Where did they live?

This web unit will help you to find the answers to these questions, using original documents and records that existed in Tudor times. You'll be able to create your own Tudor character, based on records of people that really did live in Tudor Durham.

You'll also find out what happened in Durham in 1569, during the reign of Elizabeth I, when the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland were unhappy with her rule and decided to take matters into their own hands...

To start investigating, choose one of the options of the left hand side.

There are also two fun games for you to play:

Play the 'How Rich am I?' game to find out which jobs made you rich!

Play the 'Where Would I Live?' game and work out where in Tudor Durham different people would have lived.