Year 5 Britain after the Romans: how did Christianity survive in the British Isles? worksheet

“Roman Christians in Britain” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 history unit “Britain after the Romans: how did Christianity survive in the British Isles?”, for children aged 9 to 10, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 1 to 6 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Roman Christians in Britain

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · History · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain what Roman objects can and cannot tell us about Christianity in Britain.

A Look back3 min

1.
Number these in order, earliest first.
1. Romans leave Britain (about 410 CE)
2. Romans invade Britain (43 CE)
3. Hadrian's Wall is started (122 CE)
2.
The Romans invaded Britain in 43 CE. Hadrian's Wall was started in 122 CE. How many years is that from 43 to 122?
3.
Write < or > in the box: 122 410

B Watch me, then you4 min

In a made-up town, a wall painting dated 350 CE shows a cross. What can we say for certain about when Christians lived there?

A plastered wall in a made-up Roman town with a small painted cross on it

Watch me

The painting was made in 350 CE. That is the earliest date we can prove.

Christians may have lived in the town before 350 CE.

So the painting shows when Christians were visible, not when they first came.

Now you

1.
In a made-up village, a carved stone dated 380 CE shows a cross. Which can we say for certain?
Christians lived there only in 380 CE.Christians may have lived there before 380 CE.Christians first arrived there in 380 CE.

C Your turn8 min

Work out the gap between each pair of dates. Then answer the last question.

1.
Around 200 CE, a writer called Tertullian said there were Christians in Britain. The Hinton St Mary mosaic was made about 350 CE. How many years apart are these?
2.
In 314 CE, three bishops from Britain went to a church meeting in Arles, in France. The Hinton St Mary mosaic was made about 350 CE. How many years apart are these?
3.
The Romans invaded Britain in 43 CE. They left about 410 CE. How many years was that?
4.
A Roman villa chapel in Britain has wall paintings from the 300s CE. Which statement is true?
Christianity may have arrived before the 300s CE.Christianity must have arrived in Britain in the 300s CE.

Say it out loud: What did you do each time to find the gap? What do the first two gaps tell you about Christians in Britain before the mosaic?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Kit says: “The Hinton St Mary mosaic is from the 300s CE, so Christianity reached Britain in the 300s CE.”

1.
Explain in one or two sentences why Kit is wrong.

E Think deeper4 min

A plain Roman clay pot standing on a wooden table in a quiet room

1.
Think of one Roman object, such as a pot or a stone. What can it prove about belief in Britain, and what can it not prove?

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Roman Christians in Britain · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 1 Romans invade Britain (43 CE) · 2 Hadrian's Wall is started (122 CE) · 3 Romans leave Britain (about 410 CE)

2. 79 your child added 122 and 43 to get 165. To find the years between two dates, take the earlier year away from the later year.

3. <

B

1. Christians may have lived there before 380 CE. your child picked a card that makes the stone the start date. Ask: what does a date on a carved stone actually prove?

C

1. 150 your child added 350 and 200 to get 550. Years between two dates need taking away: the later year minus the earlier year.

2. 36 your child added 350 and 314 to get 664. Years between two dates need taking away: the later year minus the earlier year.

3. 367 your child added 410 and 43 to get 453. Ask which year came first, then find the gap between the two years.

4. Christianity may have arrived before the 300s CE.

D

1. Look for: says the mosaic dates visible Christianity, not its first arrival in Britain If your child only says Kit is wrong, ask: could people have been Christians before someone made this mosaic?

E

1. Look for: names an object and says what it can prove and what it cannot prove about dates or beliefs

Words to use

Say“What does this object prove for certain? What might it not tell us yet?”

Instead of“That is the date Christianity arrived, so write it down.”

After the sheet

Find an old object at home, like a jug or a coin from a drawer. Together, write one thing it proves and one thing it cannot prove about when it was made.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Did everyone become pagan?(with a plan)
Patrick and Ireland's Christians(with a plan)
Monasteries that grew rich(with a plan)
Irish missionaries at work(with a plan)
Why Christianity Lasted(with a plan)

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