Local History
Gillian trained as a Medievalist and has taught History in schools, universities and museums for over 25 years. She is fascinated by the complex relationships between family and local history and national events and passionate about communicating the past. She has worked with museums collections, archives and oral history collections.
Whether you are a local group wishing to explore your local heritage, a teacher creating a Local History programme of study, or a museum, archive, gallery or heritage site wishing to develop materials rooted in local contexts we can help. We can create frameworks for research or teaching, research relevant source materials, create resources or design and deliver local history courses.
For any enquiries please contact me using my email below.
A city's character and style is created not just by its inhabitants but by the buildings and physical landscape that add shape and pattern. York is rich in layers of architectural fabric, each thread revealing something of the city's history. This module examines the urbanscape of York from its earliest buildings to modern environmental concerns and the conflicts of history and heritage management. We will attempt to consider both the past and future to better understand and appreciate the city itself. To book see York University
The Anglo-Saxons and Normans had tried to subjugate Wales, but it was not until 1283 that Edward I conquered the country and claimed the title of Prince of Wales for his eldest son. However, Wales refused to be conquered. Rebellions led by Owen Glyndwr threatened English control and Welsh involvement in the Wars of the Roses strengthened the Lancastrian cause. It was not until the reign of Henry VIII that Wales was finally integrated into Tudor Britain. This course traces the story of the Welsh conquests. To book see York University
After the Romans left, many Romano-British kingdoms emerged and Strathclyde alone survived the Anglo-Saxon invasions. Although attacked by Vikings in the ninth century, it was not until just before the Norman Conquest that the independent British Kingdom of Strathclyde was absorbed into the Gaelic Kingdom of Scotland. This day school examines the origins of the British Kingdom of Strathclyde and its final absorption into the Kingdom of the Scots. To book see University of York
On 9 September 1452 Laurence Catterall of Little Mitton was attending a church service in St. Andrews, Gargrave, when he was suddenly seized, roughly dragged out of church and imprisoned by Sir Richard Percy. Laurence Catterall was Neville retainer and supported the Yorkists, the Percies were Lancastrians; on opposing sides in the bloody thirty year civil war that became known as the Wars of the Roses. Gillian Waters will explore the local tensions between Percy and Neville supporters that led to the outbreak of war in 1455 and the impact of those wars on the two manors of Gargrave.
Richard III- Yorkshire Hero or Shakespearian villain? An investigation of the career and reputation of our last Yorkist king. Was Richard III really a villainous hunchback, or is he a victim of Shakespearian exaggeration? Did Richard III really kill his nephews in cold blood to gain the throne, or was this simply Tudor propaganda? Was he a good Lord and if so why did York alone mourn his passing at the Battle of Bosworth? This talk examines the career and reputation of Richard III and how his short reign has been interpreted.
