Our G30 students carried out a short but very important piece of fieldwork today when they walked down to St Mary’s Church at Heworth. Here they were all able to see the burial place of Thomas Hepburn, who died in 1864, but is still revered and remembered today for initiating the very first Union of Mineworkers in the Northeast and being a campaigner for shorter working hours and better education for miners.
The students also visited the grave and memorial Obelisk for the many miners who were killed in the Felling Pit disaster of 1812 which is one of their Case Studies in their current expedition of learning. By visiting the site the students gain an element of authenticity to their learning and understand that these are important historical sources to support our studies. We also got the opportunity to see the inside of the church so they could get a feel for the place where their ‘Presentation of Learning’ will take place in December. Priest Lucy talked to the students about how important she feels it is to have their work on the Felling Pit Disaster displayed alongside the miners’ lamp that hangs in the church, for all visitors to St Mary’s to admire and learn from in the future.
