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Crime and Punishment Virtual Tour

Step inside a Tudor prison

About this learning resource

Format: Video

Explore a Tudor prison and prisoners' graffiti with this immersive 360° tour featuring:

  • videos
  • challenges
  • historic sources
  • student worksheet.

Perfect for primary aged students and supporting Crime and Punishment or Tudor England studies.

Resource Information

Key Stage

  • KS2 (age 7-11)
  • Home Educators

Subjects

  • History

Topic

  • Castles
  • Crime & Punishment
  • Tudors
  • Elizabethans

Type

  • Virtual tours

Palace

  • Tower of London

Tour chapters

The tour is organised into short, standalone chapters.

Ground Floor

  • Tudor Crime
  • Tudor Punishment
  • Religious Rollercoaster

First Floor

  • Prisoners’ Graffiti
  • Protestant Prisoners under Mary I
  • Catholic Prisoners under Elizabeth I
  • Researching the Graffiti
  • Who Lives Here Today?

Suggested enquiry question

What can the Beauchamp Tower reveal about crime and punishment in Tudor England, and what can we learn from the graffiti left behind by prisoners?

Helpful resources

Important! We recommend downloading these files to your computer and opening them in the appropriate app to ensure the correct layout.

Download Teacher Guide

Short introduction on how to use the tour, suggested enquiry questions and teaching sequences. Plus tour video transcripts.

Download Student Workbook

A printable and editable workbook for students to fill out whilst exploring the virtual tour. The questions in this workbook match the challenges in the virtual tour experience.

Thomas Abel's graffiti in the Beauchamp Tower - Imprisonment at the Tower display and exhibition at the Tower of London. The carving shows a large bell with an 'A' on the front, with the name 'Thomas' carved above it.

Download Image Bank

A selection of high quality images from the virtual tour for you to use in your lessons.

More learning resources

This graph reveals how many prisoners were held at the Tower of London during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

Key Stage

  • KS2 (age 7-11)
  • KS3 (age 11-14)
  • KS4 (age 15-16)
  • KS5 (age 16+)

Subject

  • History

Topic

  • Crime & Punishment
  • Tudors
  • Elizabethans

Download short editable biographies of prisoners at the Tower of London for Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. Use key facts, activities and historic sources to explore crime and punishment at the Tower of London. 

Key Stage

  • KS2 (age 7-11)
  • KS3 (age 11-14)
  • KS4 (age 15-16)
  • KS5 (age 16+)
  • Home Educators
  • International Schools

Subject

  • History
  • Archaeology

Topic

  • Normans
  • Medieval
  • Tudors
  • Elizabethans
  • Stuarts
  • 20th & 21st Century
  • Diverse Histories
  • Crime & Punishment

Download short editable biographies of Tudor Kings and Queens for Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. Use key facts, activities and historic sources to explore these famous monarchs. 

Key Stage

  • KS2 (age 7-11)
  • KS3 (age 11-14)
  • KS4 (age 15-16)
  • KS5 (age 16+)
  • Home Educators

Subject

  • History

Topic

  • Tudors
  • Elizabethans