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Year 10
Edexcel

Case study: Flemish and Walloon migrants in Sandwich and Canterbury

I can explain the reasons for and experiences of Flemish and Walloon migrants, as well as the impact of Flemish and Walloon migrants on a local and national level.

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Year 10
Edexcel

Case study: Flemish and Walloon migrants in Sandwich and Canterbury

I can explain the reasons for and experiences of Flemish and Walloon migrants, as well as the impact of Flemish and Walloon migrants on a local and national level.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. To improve England’s economy, William Cecil invited Flemish and Walloon weavers to Sandwich and later Canterbury.
  2. Although they faced increasing hostility, Flemish and Walloon weavers established a community and thrived economically.
  3. Flemish and Walloon weavers impacted the economy and the built environment.

Keywords

  • Flemish - One of several German groups from Flanders (modern-day Belgium)

  • Walloon - One of several German groups from Flanders (modern-day Belgium) and some surrounding regions

  • Persecution - hostility or ill-treatment against a person or group on the basis of a ethnicity, religion or any other belief/characteristic

  • Apprentice - someone who is learning a new skill from an experienced worker

Common misconception

All people who migrated to England from Flanders had similar experiences.

Walloon weavers had more positive experiences in Canterbury and were awarded greater freedoms, when compared to Flemish weavers in Sandwich.


To help you plan your year 10 history lesson on: Case study: Flemish and Walloon migrants in Sandwich and Canterbury, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

When outlining the reasons for migration, emphasise that for Flemish and Walloon weavers both religious and economic motivations were important - it is not always the case that one reason was greater than another, and reasons can often interlink.
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Adult supervision recommended

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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.
Match the dates to the periods of English and British history.
Correct Answer:c800-c1500,medieval England
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medieval England

Correct Answer:c1500-c1700,early modern England
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early modern England

Correct Answer:c1700-c1900,eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain
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eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain

Correct Answer:c1900-present,modern Britain
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modern Britain

Q2.
Match the words with the correct definitions.
Correct Answer:denomination,a branch of the Christian Church (e.g. Catholicism, Protestantism)
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a branch of the Christian Church (e.g. Catholicism, Protestantism)

Correct Answer:humanism,a Renaissance movement valuing classical learning.
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a Renaissance movement valuing classical learning.

Correct Answer:Puritan,a Protestant who believed that the Reformation needed to go further
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a Protestant who believed that the Reformation needed to go further

Correct Answer:lascar,a sailor who travelled between Britain and its colonies
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a sailor who travelled between Britain and its colonies

Q3.
Complete the sentence: The emergence of the British led to small numbers of Asian and African migrants settling in Britain.
Correct Answer: Empire, empire
Q4.
Why did some African migrants find themselves in England in the early modern period?
because of England’s role in the East India Company
Correct answer: because of England’s role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade
because some Catholic Africans fled persecution in France or Spain
Correct answer: because some Protestant Africans fled persecution in France or Spain
Q5.
How were opportunities for Flemish and Walloon weavers to Sandwich and Canterbury in the early modern period similar to opportunities for Viking migrants to York in the medieval period?
The migrants both found safety from religious persecution in England.
The migrants were both valued for their skills with metals.
The government encouraged both migrant groups to come to England.
Correct answer: The migrants both benefitted from the strong trading links with other countries.
Q6.
Which of these is not a reason why migration increased in the early modern period?
Correct answer: The Industrial Revolution created jobs for migrants
The Reformation leading to persecution of some religious groups
The economic benefits offered by some highly-skilled migrants
Growth in trading opportunities with other countries

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Complete this sentence: Flemish migrants set up the Weavers’s Company in London where they trained 500 .
Correct Answer: apprentices, Apprentices
Q2.
Who invited Flemish weavers to Sandwich in 1560?
the Weavers’ Company of London
Elizabeth I
Correct answer: William Cecil
the Draper’s Union in London
Q3.
Which word describes hostility or ill-treatment against a person or group on the basis of a ethnicity, religion or any other belief/characteristic?
Correct Answer: persecution, Persecution
Q4.
Put the following events in chronological order.
1 - Walloon weavers first arrived in Canterbury
2 - Walloon weavers given space in St Alphege’s church to worship in French
3 - Walloon weavers granted the western crypt of Canterbury Cathedral
4 - French speaking migrants opened around 30 churches in London
Q5.
What were the economic reasons for Flemish and Walloon migration?
Skilled potters in England meant that merchants could export valuable pottery.
Correct answer: Merchants were looking for ways to expand the wool trade.
Correct answer: Skilled weavers in England meant that merchants could export valuable cloth.
Correct answer: Skilled weavers in England would save the cost of exporting wool.
Merchants were looking for ways to expand the gold trade.
Q6.
Which of the following are examples of negative experiences Flemish migrants had in early modern England?
Correct answer: Local people resented weavers who took on work outside of cloth-making.
London silk weavers complained about the competition brought by the migrants.
Correct answer: The number of migrants in Sandwich was limited to 250-300.
From 1585, migrants were limited to those escaping religious persecution.

Additional material

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