Delve into history

Explore the events of the past, and how they’ve shaped the world we live in today. Immerse yourself in different eras, marvel at historic achievements, and examine how different things could have been.  

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All of our courses are designed to help develop your skills in historical research and analysis, encouraging you to look beyond the surface of key historical moments. From the history of King Arthur to World War I and II, you’ll develop a better understanding of key historic customs, beliefs, and ways of life.   

Whether you consider yourself a history buff with decades of experience, or someone just starting out that wants to learn more, you can choose from a wide selection of topics.   

Attend a WEA history course near you  

A variety of our history courses are taught in-person or are delivered online - it all depends on what suits your needs best. From the comfort of your own home to a space in your local community. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be taught by a talented tutor who is vastly experienced.   

The support you’ll receive on our history courses  

They'll help you develop an understanding that goes beyond just what's on the surface, all within a friendly and encouraging environment that ensures you attend each session with the excitement to learn.   

It’s our learning experience that sets us apart too, with many of those attending our courses going on to achieve incredible things. You’ll learn at a pace that’s comfortable for you too, with a friendly supportive tutor on hand to answer any questions you might have. 

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History: 'You've Never Had It So Good'- Britain in the 1950's

Harold Macmillan famously claimed in 1957 that the majority of British people had ‘never had it so good’ What did he mean by this and was this true? This thought provoking course will examine through contemporary evidence, films and through discussion the evidence for this. We will focus on the social, political and economic factors which applied in the lead up to the period and also the challenges which Macmillan himself identified. Lastly we will transition to the present day, and consider whether we are better off today, and if not why not?
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Course Information

Dates:
Wed 16/07/2025 -
Wed 16/07/2025
Times:
10:00am - 1:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Kate Antoniou
Course code:
Q00022517
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £11.10

History: The 20th Century English Musical Renaissance

The early 20th Century witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of English musical talent – dormant since the death of Purcell 200 years earlier. With the premiere of Elgar's Enigma Variations in 1899, the country at last began to put paid to the German gibe of it being "The Land without Music". With the help of musical extracts, we trace the course of the Renaissance and the individuals who shaped it - featuring Elgar, Delius, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Britten, Walton and Tippett. We also explore how conscious they were of heading a revolution, and address the elusive issue of what we really understand by Englishness in music.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 09/09/2025 -
Tue 14/10/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
The Cornerstone (Wokingham)
Norreys Avenue
Wokingham
RG40 1UE
Tutor:
Christopher Carter
Course code:
Q00022284
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £96.00

History: America's Peculiar Institution and the American Civil War

In this course, guest-tutor Roger McMaster will map out the social and constitutional development of the United States following the War of 1812 against Great Britain. It is a journey that leads to the Civil War and Reconstruction and to the development of the country of today.
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Course Information

Dates:
Thu 18/09/2025 -
Thu 16/10/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
St John the Baptist Church Meeting Room
55 Main Road
Danbury
CM3 4NG
Tutor:
Guest Speaker
Course code:
Q00022316
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £80.00

History: Highlights of Medieval Archaeology

Highlights of Medieval Archaeology will feature - recent work on Castles, from Hen Dolmen on the Welsh border to the Royal castle at Launceston, both have been extensively excavated and published in recent years. Recent work on Monastic sites; Fountains Abbey, Merton Priory and the Friaries in Hull and Cambridge all subject to recent excavation or geophysical survey. Look at Medieval coastal flooding around the North Sea basin. Examine the Bremen Cog, a 14th century North Sea trading ship, other recent cog finds and the cargos they can be shown to have carried. Introduce the late medieval books of Hours and the rare black variety. Feature the Voynich Manuscript- an undeciphered late medieval illustrated manuscript. By request, give an update on the recently excavated Melsonby Hoard of Late Iron Age metalwork from North Yorkshire.
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 22/09/2025 -
Mon 24/11/2025
Times:
1:45pm - 3:45pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Grimsby Central Hall & Arts Community Ce
Duncombe Street
Grimsby
DN32 7EG
Tutor:
Simon Tomson
Course code:
Q00022381
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £160.00

WEA Membership

WEA membership is changing: more information is coming soon!

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Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
£15

History: The world turned upside down - England's revolutionary republic

To most folk the English republic 1649-60 was a failure or a temporary blip in our nation’s smooth path to constitutional monarchy. The truth is very different as this course will explain.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 23/09/2025 -
Tue 21/10/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Christchurch United Reform Church (Chelm
164 New London Road
Chelmsford
CM2 0AW
Tutor:
Roger Cooke
Course code:
Q00022383
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £80.00

History of the Soviet Union: Brezhnev to Gorbachev

Following Khrushchev’s ouster, Leonid Brezhnev emerged as a ‘safe pair of hands’ leader of the Soviet Union. In 1964 the USSR had made a substantial recovery from the devastation of the ‘Great Patriotic War.’ There had been significant achievements in space and military technology even as the standard of living for ordinary citizens lagged behind those in the West. Quarter of a century later, the USSR was on the brink of collapse. What had gone wrong? Our course will provide answers to that question. We will build on previous courses examining the earlier period of the Soviet Union. This offer is free standing and new students are very welcome.
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Course Information

Dates:
Thu 02/10/2025 -
Thu 27/11/2025
Times:
10:30am - 12:30pm
Duration:
8 sessions
Location:
Sacred Heart Church
St Thomas Hall
Essendene Road
Caterham
CR3 5PB
Tutor:
Julian Roberts
Course code:
Q00022321
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £144.00

History: Spanish History and Regions

Although you may know Spain, do you know about the country away from the Costas? In this course we look at the history of Spain from prehistoric times, through the many periods of occupation by the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Visigoths, the Moors and the wars of independence from the French of the 18th & 19th centuries. Then onto the civil war of the 20th century and the current situation.
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Course Information

Dates:
Mon 06/10/2025 -
Mon 10/11/2025
Times:
7:30pm - 9:30pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Bardfield Quaker Meeting House (Great Ba
Brook Street
Great Bardfield
CM7 4RG
Tutor:
Derek Robinson
Course code:
Q00023117
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £80.00

Architecture: Architecture and Glass: Stained Glass in the English Cathedrals - Medieval to Modern

Part of the stunning experience in entering a cathedral is the impact of the colour and images in the glass. Early glass, such as that of the twelfth century in Canterbury cathedral, was in place even before stone window tracery was introduced. We will see how medieval glass developed toward the ultimate of York Minster's Great East Window in the fifteenth century. The work of designers and workshops producing glass in the nineteenth century was crucial to the replacement of glass lost to iconoclasts, and we will go on to examine how modern glass has played its part - both in the medieval cathedrals and in the new cathedrals of the modern age.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/11/2025 -
Tue 02/12/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
The Cornerstone (Wokingham)
Norreys Avenue
Wokingham
RG40 1UE
Tutor:
Keith Hasted
Course code:
Q00022286
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
3 places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee:
£80.00

History: Disease & History

Disease has been part from mankind's story almost from the start. Its impact upon individuals and societies has had consequences of which we are all too often we are unaware. Sometimes like the Black Death millions are struck down and the whole tilt o.f a society's development is shifted. At other times the death or incapacity of a key individual or group alters the chain of events. In this course we will consider a range of diseases across the span of the years that illustrate that disease has a far greater effect upon man's 'story than we routinely recognise.
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Course Information

Dates:
Tue 04/11/2025 -
Tue 02/12/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Scout & Guide HQ (Hatfield Peverel)
Church Road
Hatfield Peverel
CM3 2LB
Tutor:
Roger Cooke
Course code:
Q00022384
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £80.00