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Year 1

Wales, England and Owain Glyndwr

I can retell the story of Owain Glyndwr's early life.

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New
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Year 1

Wales, England and Owain Glyndwr

I can retell the story of Owain Glyndwr's early life.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Owain Glyndwr was a Welshman who was born at a time when England controlled Wales.
  2. He was descended from the princes of a part of Wales.
  3. As a young man he travelled to London to study law and even fought in an English army.
  4. When he returned to Wales, he found that many people were unhappy with English rule.
  5. Owain Glyndwr decided to fight to try and make Wales free from English rule.

Keywords

  • Marches - the Marches is a place between Wales and England

  • Descended - when people are related by blood to older generations they are descended from them

  • Bard - a famous poet is called a bard

  • Lord - someone of importance who owned land was a lord

Common misconception

That life was the same 750 years ago as it is today.

Explain to children that lots of things were very different 750 years ago. For example, there were no cars, planes or trains and it would have taken Owain a long time to travel to Scotland and London. People would have travelled by horse or walked.


To help you plan your year 1 history lesson on: Wales, England and Owain Glyndwr, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Create freeze frames and take photographs of the children acting out different scenes from Owain's life, such as Owain riding as a boy, studying law, a soldier in Scotland, getting married and a feast with the bards. Ask the children to arrange the photographs in order and write captions.
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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Who did King Alfred want to help so they could fight the Vikings too?
Correct answer: King Mercia
King Wessex
King Northumbria
Q2.
What was Aethelflaed (King Alfred's daughter) like?
She was shy and quiet.
Correct answer: She was brave and strong.
She was scared and worried.
Q3.
True or False? Aethelflaed married Aethelred (King of Mercia).
Correct answer: True
False
Q4.
Pick the right word to finish this sentence. When the King of Mercia died, Aethelflaed became know as the Lady of ___________.
East Anglia
Wessex
Correct answer: Mercia
Q5.
What did Aethelflaed ask her soldiers to find on their special mission?
the lost books of Saint Oswald
Correct answer: the lost bones of Saint Oswald
the lost bottles of Saint Oswald
Q6.
What did finding the lost bones of Saint Oswald give Aethelflaed?
more money
Correct answer: more respect
more power

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Where was the special place called the Marches?
between England and Ireland
between England and Scotland
Correct answer: between England and Wales
Q2.
What does the word 'descended' mean?
Correct answer: People related by blood to older generations
People related by marriage to each other
People related to each other by being sisters or brothers
Q3.
True or false? Owain Glyndwr was born in the Marches and one day he would be the Prince of Wales.
Correct answer: True
False
Q4.
What facts are true about what Owain did as a young man?
Correct answer: He studied law in London.
Correct answer: He learned how to fight.
Correct answer: He was a soldier and went to Scotland to fight.
He travelled to France.
Q5.
Where did Owain live after fighting in Scotland?
Correct answer: Owain got married and lived in a big house in the Marches.
Owain got married and lived in a large castle in Scotland.
Owain got married and moved to London to be a lawyer.
Q6.
What was one of the reasons that Owain decided to fight against the English?
Correct answer: Owain and the Welsh lords were fed up with the way the English ruled them.
Owain and the Welsh bards were fed up with the way the English ruled them.
Owain and the Scottish lords were fed up with the way the English ruled them.

Additional material

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