A classmate and I at Mary King’s Close

Author: Katherine Taylor | Major: Editorial Journalism

The start to this summer’s Medieval England program was not a graceful one. I was already in London when my 18 classmates arrived. The plan was to fly from Heathrow to Newcastle and ride on a bus to Durham from there; that plan went out the window altogether when our flight was canceled. We ended up taking a trip on the Underground and two different trains (one of which turned out to be completely unnecessary), but we eventually made it to Durham safely. Unfortunately, we made it without any of my classmates’ luggage. At least they didn’t have to haul it down a flight of stairs and up a steep cobblestone hill like I did!

After the rough arrival, things started to run much more smoothly. We had our own dorm rooms; luggage started arriving; the food in the dining hall was yummy; we all got to know one another. While we were in Durham, we went to class every weekday from 9:30-11:30 and 1:30-3:30. Dr. Quinn—an expert on medieval literature—taught us all about Chaucer and Beowulf and the Normans and the Catholic Church. Still, though I loved our class sessions, I feel that the real learning took place on our site visits.

We went on a total of 17 site visits or field trips in five weeks—an incredible number when you think about how much history is contained in each. The first two weeks of our program were spent in Durham. While we were there, we took a day trip to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, where St. Cuthbert spent much of his life in the monastery established by the monk Aidan. We also visited Durham Cathedral; Dr. Quinn explained the traditional layout of a cathedral and walked us through each part.

A few of us took a trip to Edinburgh on our free weekend in Durham. I visited Mary King’s Close, a section of the city that has been preserved underground when a chamber building was built on top of it; I went to St. Giles’ Cathedral; and I hiked Arthur’s Seat.

After we said goodbye to Durham, we stopped at Rievaulx Abbey on our way to York. These abbey ruins were one of my favorite places we visited. While we did see a lot of religious sites, I felt very connected to this one. It was so quiet, peaceful, and green; I felt like I could truly imagine monks walking around, participating in their prayers and keeping up the grounds.

In York, we visited the city walls and the Jorvik Museum, a museum built on top of an archaeological site where a Viking town used to exist. There is an amusement park ride of sorts going through a recreation of the village, each structure placed where archaeologists found evidence it would have stood. We also visited York Minster (a church with an interesting past plagued with fires), and a group of us were able to go to an evening prayer there.

After we left York, we went on to our final destination: London. In London, we had site visits almost every day.

We started off strong with a tour of Parliament. We learned the basic structure of the British government, including the roles of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. We learned about traditions that have existed for centuries and how they have been adapted to modern times. We learned about the coronation ceremony and the role Parliament plays in it.

We took a field trip to Battle Abbey, which stands on the site of the Battle of Hastings—one of the most important battles in English history. The altar in the church is said to have been built on the exact spot where William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy) killed King Harold II, thus opening the door for himself to take the throne.