About this project

This resource was developed as a collaboration between Archives and Special Collections, Durham University Library and Dave Wallbanks of Fyndoune Community College, Sacriston. The impetus for the project came from a NEMLAC programme aimed at encouraging schools to work with museums, libraries and archives to produce sustainable curriculum resources.

The aim of this particular project was to produce a resource which could be used for the teaching of Crime and Punishment at Key Stages 3-4, in particular, focusing on some of the aspects covered by the Schools History Project. However, it was felt that taking a traditional approach to the subject was to miss an opportunity. As a result, the resource also uses literacy-based and Citizenship activities to reinforce the learning and open it up to a wider range of abilities. Early on in the project, a decision was made to focus on Crime and Punishment in Durham in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This was a particularly interesting period as it coincides with a new prison being commissioned and built in the City after much criticism of the old gaol was voiced by campaigners such as Elizabeth Fry. Consequently, it is intended that this resource illustrates some of the wider themes of the history of Crime and Punishment and can be used by anyone studying the subject.

The website looks at three key areas of the debate surrounding Crime and Punishment: crime and criminals; people and punishment; and prisons and prison reform. In each section, students are presented with source material which they interrogate to develop their knowledge of crime and punishment.

The partners would like to thank their individual institutions for allowing them to take part in the project, NEMLAC for providing funding and assistance and Janet Linsley of CPD Matters for all her help. Thanks must also be given to Durham County Record Office, Durham Heritage Centre and HM Prison Durham, particularly John Cavanagh, for allowing us to use images from their collections and for providing much useful information and advice.