Year 6 took a trip back to 1549 at Kentwell Hall last week – here’s the write up by pupil Lily Cramer
On the 27th of September Year 6 went on a class trip to Kentwell Hall to help us in our history lessons, we were taken back to the year 1549 and learnt all about how they lived (whilst looking incredibly stylish in our Tudor costumes.) When we walked through the big metal gates, we were greeted by two men. One explained how our visit would go and then told us what the other man would do to us if we misbehaved, he was carrying a huge axe around! So, you could guess?
The first stop was the pottery and wood supplies. Here they told us all about their purpose. They chop and then store wood for the winter and then it gets passed around the vast area, it goes to places like the bakers, the potter, the cots (cottages) and many other small buildings around the hall! After that, the potter told us all about a Tudor man who was a symbol of protection! Then she showed us some of the things she had made, followed by what the clay she used was made of. Clay is made from wet soil. After that we went to the blacksmith who made horseshoes, curtain rails for the house and many more metal objects. Then we went to the alchemist where he did some really cool science. One of the tricks he showed us was when he put a magic liquid into dyed water, and it completely changed colour! Afterwards we went to the bakery where they were making balls of bread filled with apple, cheese or garlic to give to the main house, we also got showed the dairy building where they were making homemade cheese! She hung the liquid cheese in a cloth, and she would leave it for a day or two and then form it! After the cheese we went to a weaving room. There were plenty of weaved baskets, that had an extraordinarily sturdy base, and the lady said it took up to a day to make one big basket! Then we found out something disgusting, the jakes (toilets) was just a hole in the floor that led to the lake, the fish of that lake were waiting at the bottom! Afterwards we went to an apothecary (they called it the still room) that made potions and tablets for all types of diseases and sicknesses. We even got to help the lady’s mash and cut up plants for the cures! The next room along was the embroidery / tailors. They had made intricate little designs and made them into a cushion! The woman also made pot cushions, so the kitchen staff did not burn themselves!
We came down the stairs and into a dark room…at first it just seemed like a normal, dark room but it was really special! When the door was shut, there was a hole in the wall that let through light, and there was a Lense behind the wall that illuminated a picture of the boys feeding the fish off the bridge! It was then that we wandered over to the manor and watched the food being transported to the residents! We then finally got to go inside, the first room was the kitchen, they had just sent all the food off to the main house, so the kitchen was pretty empty other than the rouge pigs’ heart that was laid on the table! We ventured into the lounge area, in here was absolutely huge! The ceiling was about 10 meters high! For the final part of the manner was where the residents were eating! We had an enjoyable conversation with them; however, they didn’t know what the purpose of the £5 note was. To be honest I don’t even understand how it works!
We left the manor house and went to a slightly more remote area where we were shown how to make a spoon and identify several types of arrows. We then went to a small cottage in the middle of the woods, it was a two-bed house and in it lived a mother and her baby with her mother-in-law! We were told they had brick floors and a nice cozy fire for the winter! For our second to last stop we went to a wood carver, he was currently carving an intricate feather of wood for the fellows’ hats to make it seem they had lots of money!
Our final stop was another food-related one, this one was for the slightly poorer folk, it was a type of stew with lots of vegetables and was mostly eaten with bread! We learnt so much and were happy that we got to come to such a fantastic place!
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