About Us

Dave and I have been involved with living history for over 30 years. I have been running History Boxes for over 20 years. Our own 2 children have had a wonderful opportunity to study history with a real hands on approach.

Seeing their enjoyment of this unique learning experience has helped us to develop this service. Our eldest, Helen is currently working as a teacher and of course using the resources.

The running of the hugely successful living history project at Murton Park near York has given Dave a wealth of knowledge and expertise in meeting teacher’s requirements and providing living history education.

In fact the idea for the history boxes was customer led in that teachers were asking for artefacts that they could use in the classroom.

Testimonials

History Boxes understand the high standards that we require for our company and have consistently delivered, frequently requested personally by the schools we work with

York Time Travel

Our company York Time Travel create bespoke residential educational school trips.
So we require the highest integrity and professionalism for our business, which is what we get from Lynn and Dave Thirlwall of History Boxes

York Time Travel

Picking up and weighing a mail shirt was far more educational than drawing a picture from a book and making up the weight with stones!

Angela Hardman - Teacher North Yorkshire

I commend History Boxes for the quality and diversity of the range of resources they bring to the classroom and their professionalism in supporting the learning of pupils at Ganton School.

Sue Jones – Head-teacher – Ganton School

The learning corridor has been a monumental success, so much so that other schools are now bringing their classes to experience this new hands-on learning environment.

Sue Jones – Head-teacher – Ganton School

The boxes give lots of opportunities to develop cross curricular links, and to help history come alive

Angela Hardman - Teacher North Yorkshire

This is fantastic, where did you get all this stuff?

Royal British Legion

We have worked extensively with History Boxes for over 15 years and we are more than delighted with the with the service they provide for us

York Time Travel

The experience and knowledge they bring to York Time Travel is invaluable.
Providing numerous formats of historical activities for our schools visiting York

York Time Travel

Without the support, advice and resources provided by History Boxes we would have been unable to create our Centenary WWI learning corridor.

Sue Jones – Head-teacher – Ganton School

How To Hire

Hiring is a simple process, you can contact us via a number of methods including webmail and on the phone. It is far easier to organise over the phone.

The normal box hire is for 20 working days; this does not include weekends or holidays…click for more

Terms & Conditions

By making a booking you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.

1) Artefacts must only be handled with close adult supervision.

2) Unfortunately we will have to charge for all losses and breakages.

You can read the full Terms and Conditions Here

Did You Know?

Only one fully intact Viking helmet has ever been found; in Norway at Gjemenbu.

A Viking slave was known as a thrall. Nowadays if someone is captivated by something they are ‘enthralled’.

Tudor people thought that red coloured cloth and drapes, especially in domestic areas such as bedrooms, were thought to ward off the devil or evil spirits. Green coloured cloth signified family love and was therefore commonly used for children’s clothes

In Tudor times pewter was cleaned by a variety of methods. Ground-up eggshells cleaned it so it looked like silver. Strawberry spinach which was a commonly grown salad veg was also used.

Wine was the most popular drink in Ancient Greece and was enjoyed at all times of the day. It was quite thick, needed straining and was usually diluted with water.

A popular pastime of the Egyptians, especially for girls, was throwing and catching balls. This was not just done standing but also on piggy-back or leaping high into the air.

Roman baths were not just places to get clean. People went there to exercise, play games and socialise.

The European tortoise was once plentiful in Ancient Greece and its empty shell made an excellent sound-box for the stringed instrument called the lyre.

Roman soldiers had a pension, medical insurance and a burial fund 2,000 years ago.

Wealthy Medieval people often ground up oyster shells or cuttlefish to clean teeth. This was purely for cosmetic reasons as they were unaware of the need for dental hygiene.

Bathing was important for an Aztec family both for keeping clean and for purification with most homes having a stone steam bath-house next to the main adobe house.

Glass was rare and expensive in Medieval and Tudor times and only churches or Royal palaces could afford glass windows. Wealthy noblemen and merchants used panes of polished horn which were cheaper and tougher and let in lots of light but were difficult to see through.

The Vikings used lodestone (naturally magnetic iron ore) as a primitive compass. The north- pointing characteristic of this rock had been discovered by the Chinese 2000 years ago.

Both Egyptian men and women wore make-up and jewellery. They wore mineral powder on the face and kohl around the eyes which kept away the flies.