Telling our Stories, Finding our Roots, Exeter’s Multi-Coloured History Exeter History Timeline - teachers’ notes Introduction This timeline exercise could work well as an introduction to a study of multi-cultural history, or as a standalone activity. It has been piloted with KS2 and KS3 students, and could work equally with GCSE and A level students. Suggested Procedure 1. By way of warmup, ask the students what they know about multi-cultural Exeter (or even Britain) in recent or distant history. This can also be a baseline assessment 2. Divide the students into small groups - they will need a reasonable amount of room 3. Give them the instructions “I’m going to give you 11 pictures, 11 captions and 11 dates. Your task is to match up the pictures, dates and captions and put them in order on a timeline. I’ll give you x minutes” 4. Give each group a set of pictures, dates and captions 5. Monitor their progress and encourage/assist as necessary 6. As they finish, encourage them to compare with other tables (unless you’re doing it as a competition) 7. When all groups are finished, hand out the answer sheet so they can check the correct answers 8. Discuss the rationale for their choices - what evidence were they using? (probably a combination of prior knowledge, arithmetic, decoding pictures, guesswork) 9. Ask them for comments and questions on the subjects on the timeline, and discuss the topics more, using the notes below. This could be a good time to identify topics that are particularly popular for further work 10. Send us your feedback on the activity and possible improvements NB you’ll find much more detail on some of these stories, plus other stories on our website www.tellingourstoriesexeter.org.uk Answer Sheet No Date Event Picture 1. 55 Exeter founded by Roman II Augusta Legion, led by future Emperor Vespasian 2. 740 Anglo-Saxon girl Sidwell murdered with a scythe outside Exeter 3. 1001 Battle of Pinhoe between Anglo-Saxons and Vikings 4. 1562 Devonian John Hawkins conducts first English slave raids on West Africa 5. 1616 Pocahontas travels from Plymouth to London. Did she stay in Exeter? 6. 1763 Exeter’s synagogue opens 7. 1833 End of slavery in the Empire – Bishop of Exeter Henry Phillpotts receives compensation for loss of his slaves 8. 1914 Exeter City was the first professional team in the world to play Brazil at football 9. 1944 GIs stationed in Exeter are segregated by the river – Black GIs in the West, White GIs in the East 10. 1958 Mr Law opens first Chinese restaurant in Exeter – the Rice Bowl at 13 North Street 11. 1977 First mosque in Exeter opens at 15 York Road 1 Romans in Exeter (50) Vespasian (Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus), as depicted in the coin, was the Leader of the II Augusta legion that arrived in Exeter in AD50 and set up their fortified camp on the hill above the river Exe. The Legion had been a major part of the invasion of Britain under Claudius, and had fought across the south of the country, including at Maiden Castle (Dorchester). There was already a settlement here at Exeter, a prominent hill with good views towards the sea, set above a natural quayside, a settlement of the Celtic Dumnonii people. They Dumnonii had established trade links, with the Mediterranean and Europe (eg pre-Roman coin from Armorica (Brittany) found in Northernhay, in the RAMM). According to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, writing around 30BC, there was a “complex network of trade between Armorica and Britannia”. So why did the Romans come here? Why does any army conquer? They were interested in trade –specifically Cornish tin, and they wanted to capitalise on the natural resources round here. Exeter was the westernmost Roman fort in Britain, and one of the furthest west outposts of the Empire. The name of the city comes from the river Exe plus the Latin word castra , meaning fort. This is similar to many other place names in Britain (that students could explore) eg Chester, Cirencester, Manchester and so on. The Romans, however, knew the city as Isca Dumnoniorum - water or river of the Dumnonii. There’s an interesting artists impression of Roman Exeter on the city council website http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2958 There are lots of interesting resources on Roman Exeter in the RAMM, for example http://www.rammtimetrail.org.uk/Roman-Fortress/ Much of our understanding of Roman Exeter is relatively recent. There was a Roman Bath- house under the steps of the cathedral –that was unknown until excavations in the 1970s. It’s worth making this point to students – history changes all the time, through new discoveries and through new interpretations and connections. An interesting question, relating to our project, is about the ethnic and linguistic diversity of the city then. If you had strolled around the city in, say AD100, you would have heard no English and met no Christians and quite probably seen a variety of faces. The languages spoken would have been the Celtic language of the Dumnonii (which probably sounded a bit like Welsh) and Latin - English arrived with the Saxons hundreds of years later. We can’t really know for sure what the ethnic mix was in the Roman army or the civilians who lived here. We know that there was a lot of movement around the Empire (which included North Africa and the Middle East). As is the British Empire later, soldiers were recruited in one part of the Empire and posted elsewhere, partly in order to avoid the possibility of them joining in any local revolts in their home territory. We also know the II Augustan Legion had previously served in Spain and Germany. But we can guess, and imagine the scene by the quay. Legionaries sit around playing with dice in a tavern. A farmer from the hills brings wool from his sheep to sell. A Greek merchant arrives on a ship from Corbilo (modern St Nazaire) to sell olive oil to the Romans, having spent time with Asterix and Obelix first. The sailors on the ship are Phoenician, from what is now Palestine and Lebanon, and wear Phrygian caps over their sun-tanned faces. All the colours and languages of the Empire are found here, as they are in Lutetia (Paris), Massilia (Marseilles), Leptis Magna (on the Libyan Coast) and Alexandria (which still has the same name!). There were definitely Black Romans elsewhere in Britannia - eg http://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/feb/26/roman-york-skeleton http://www.archaeologyuk.org/ba/ba77/feat1.shtml http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe/b/bronze_figurine_of_ a_moorish_c.aspx The Emperor Septimius Severus was born in Libya, and died in York. So it’s true to say there were Black people in England before the English! NB Vespasian went on to lead the Roman subjugation of the Judaean revolt, and became Roman Emperor in AD69. Useful article here: http://www.roman-britain.org/places/isca_dumnoniorum.htm 2 St Sidwell (740) Little is known for sure about Sidwell, but her name and the image on the side of the building opposite the Co- op will be well known to most Exeter children. The legend is that she was a Saxon Christian girl living in Exeter in the 8 th century. Her stepmother wanted her killed, and hired a reaper to do the job. He cut off her head with a scythe, and where it fell, water sprang up. This became the well of St Sidwell, revered for the miracle and a place of pilgrimage in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England. The well was located at the junction of York Rd and Well St, right in front of the school. In early medieval times, the water was channelled into the city through the earliest of the underground passages. Other facts She’s also known as Sativola Her saint’s day is either 31 st July, August 1st or 2 nd As well as in Exeter, there are churches in her name in Cornwall and Guyana http://celticsaints.org/2013/0801f.html Why have we included her in this tour? Some sources say she was Romano-British, others that she was Saxon. Whatever the truth about the girl, and about her origin, she lived in Exeter at a time of change. The period from the departure of the Romans (around 410) until the time of King Alfred (9 th century) was a period of great upheaval in the South West, and throughout Britain, and written records are few. The legends of Arthur may well refer to somebody living in that period, quite possibly in Devon and Cornwall. The Vikings started their raids. And the Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrived from Germany and Denmark from the early 5 th century, settling first in the south east. The Saxons spread westward across Southern Britain, through Essex, Sussex, Middlesex and on into Wessex (get your students to guess the meanings of these names and plot the route on a map). They probably reached Exeter some time towards the end of the 7 th century. So if the date for Sidwell of 740 is right, and if she was in fact Anglo-Saxon (ie English) then Sidwell was one of the earliest English settlers in Exeter, and one of the earliest speakers of a language that sounds like our modern English. If she was Romano- British, as others claim, then she spoke something more like Welsh or Latin, and was part of a retreating and shrinking culture, which would soon be confined to Cornwall, west of the river Tamar.