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.  

Skip to courses

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. 

Please enter your postcode

In order for us to give you accurate results for your courses, please click on the Search options and enter your postcode and the mile radius for your search.

Refine search

How you'll learn

Your location

Please enter your postcode or town for your search in the boxes below.

We have defaulted the search to ten miles, but you can change this number in the box as you wish.

Got it!

Sort by start date

Choose to sort the course start date in ascending order (furthest away dates first) or descending (most recent dates first)

Got it!

Results per page

Days

Other Filters

Part of day
Level of study
Availability
Search for the branch name/location, without adding branch e.g. Barnet

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: The USA in the 1920's - A Nation of Contrasts

The decade that shaped and defined modern America. The Jazz Age, or the Roaring Twenties, was a time of plenty and poverty, radical change and intolerance. A decade of excess, indulgence, crime and xenophobia. The USA 1920 – 1930.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 28/10/2024 -
Mon 02/12/2024
Times:
10:30am - 12:30pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Friends Meeting House (Berkhamsted)
289 High Street
Berkhamsted
HP4 1AJ
Tutor:
Michael Long
Course code:
Q00010425
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £42.00

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

Architecture: Modern Architecture: In Tune with the Past?

It is arguably a greater challenge for a modern architect to sympathetically expand the use of historic buildings, than to create new free-standing architecture. We will critically assess what a range of architects have achieved – including Norman Foster at the British Museum, Rick Mather at the Ashmolean in Oxford, and Herzog and de Meuron in creating and then expanding Tate Modern.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 05/11/2024 -
Tue 03/12/2024
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
The Cornerstone (Wokingham)
Norreys Avenue
Wokingham
RG40 1UE
Tutor:
Keith Hasted
Course code:
Q00017591
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £50.00

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: Roman Gardens

‘Ancient Roman Gardens’ examines the crucial role played by gardens and gardening in the Roman world. They supplied food for the poor and were the scenes of specular display for the rich. They would also set the style and tone for many later European gardens, and this course will therefore be of interest to all those who wish to explore this formative phase in garden history. Through discussion and self directed study we will study the primary elements of the classic Roman garden and how it has impacted on more contempora
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 06/11/2024 -
Wed 04/12/2024
Times:
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Mark Faulkner
Course code:
Q00016184
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: History of Writing

Explore the captivating journey of writing, from ancient petrographs and petroglyphs on rocks to cutting-edge electronic communication systems. This course invites both beginners and those with prior knowledge who share an interest in history and writing. Over six weeks, taught online, engage in presentations and discussions, with convenient access to materials even after each session.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 06/11/2024 -
Wed 11/12/2024
Times:
11:00am - 1:00pm
Duration:
6 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Janet Wilson
Course code:
Q00009335
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £40.80

WEA Membership

For just £15 a year, you can:

  • Join our popular, award-winning weekly lecture series,
  • Access an archive of over 100 past lectures,
  • Get priority online and phone booking for autumn courses (England only),
  • Receive our Highway magazine and access back issues,
  • Attend our members’ annual conference.

Just add us to your basket to sign up today!

Add to basket

Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
WEA Membership

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: The Rural Wessex Landscape since 1500

The rural Wessex landscape since 1500 outlines the changes to the landscape of our region over the past 500 years, from the Dissolution of the Monasteries through the ‘Agricultural Revolution’, to the rise of modern agriculture and forestry. While the need to maintain food supply is paramount, the course will outline the impacts on both human society and on the loss of semi-natural habitats such as heathland, ancient woodland, and chalk grassland. There will be a case study of the New Forest that will explore the origins, management and habitats that are to be explored through the New Forest landscape.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 07/11/2024 -
Thu 07/11/2024
Times:
10:30am - 3:30pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
St Lawrence Parish Rooms (Winchester)
Colebrook Street
Winchester
SO23 9LH
Tutor:
Hadrian Cook
Course code:
Q00017153
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £21.00

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: Queer History - An introduction

This short course will take you through a whistlestop tour of places ranging from Victorian Britain to ancient Greece to give a snapshot of just a few of the attitudes to sex, sexuality and gender that have existed across centuries and cultures. We will see how such issues relate to power, politics and religion and how they are affected by social change. You will be able to explore the lives and ideas of queer people in past centuries through diaries, newspaper reports and court records. Throughout the course, we will explore what it means to “queer” history – and how a queer approach to history can affect our attitudes today.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 11/11/2024 -
Mon 09/12/2024
Times:
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Symon Hill
Course code:
Q00017285
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: Jesus as a Historical Figure: What can we know?

A chance to ask historical questions about the most famous individual in history. Did Jesus even exist? What historical sources do we have about him? Are the gospels reliable? What was Jesus’ attitude to the Roman Empire? Why was he crucified? On this introductory course, you will find out what historians say about Jesus – from the issues on which most scholars agree to those on which they are bitterly divided. You will have chance to apply historical scrutiny to some early texts about Jesus – including from the New Testament – and to draw your own conclusions about what we can know and whether it matters. This course is open to people of any religion and none.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Sat 23/11/2024 -
Sat 23/11/2024
Times:
10:00am - 4:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Reading International Solidarity Centre
35-39 London Street
Reading
RG1 4PS
Tutor:
Symon Hill
Course code:
Q00017286
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: The Festival of Britain 1951

Intended as a ‘Tonic for the Nation’ the Festival of Britain was a spectacular scientific and cultural event designed to raise the spirits of a country that was still in the grasp of post-war austerity and rationing, but with the promise of huge reforms in Britain’s society and the economy. Explore this part of British history in this engaging, short history course.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Mon 25/11/2024 -
Mon 25/11/2024
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Alan Simmonds
Course code:
Q00009461
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £7.40

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: ‘Happy Christmas’ – celebrating the big day through the ages

Join us to find out more about how people celebrated the ‘big day’ in the past. This course will explore the history of Christmas celebrations, focusing on three distinct periods: Medieval and Tudor Christmases, Victorian Christmases, and Christmas in the last 50 years. Learners will find out more about the cultural, social, and religious influences that have shaped Christmas traditions over the centuries. We will have a comprehensive look using documents, films and contemporary sources at how Christmas traditions have evolved over time, influenced by religious, cultural, social, and economic changes.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 28/11/2024 -
Thu 05/12/2024
Times:
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Duration:
2 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Kate Antoniou
Course code:
Q00017452
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

This course is available for WEA members only until 10 am on Wednesday 3rd July.

History: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

From work, play, education, games, birth, death, love and punishment - this course will explore the evidence for the daily life of individuals and the elite in ancient Egypt. We will look at the map of the region and follow the Nile down. We will explore Egyptian chronology, urban life, temples and pictures depicting the religious life of the people.
View details

Course Information

Dates:
Fri 29/11/2024 -
Fri 29/11/2024
Times:
10:00am - 4:00pm
Duration:
1 sessions
Location:
St Lawrence Parish Rooms (Winchester)
Colebrook Street
Winchester
SO23 9LH
Tutor:
John Billman
Course code:
Q00017610
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £25.20