Awesome school and lots of fun

Year 7 trip to Montacute House

Don't let the bed bugs bite! (see some pictures)

 

Have you ever wondered where the rhyme ‘night, night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite' came from? The children in year 7 learnt all about its fascinating origin first hand by visiting the bedroom of Sir Edward Phelips, former lawyer, and Speaker of the House to Elizabeth I. The most fascinating fact behind this rhyme was that in Tudor times they put bowls of goats' blood under their beds, hoping the bed bugs would prefer this to human blood. The children were to learn a lot more about the ancestral home of Sir Edward Phelips, Monatcute House, as the day went on. The day itself had started rather gloomy with overcast skies and rain, but by the time we reached our destination their was glorious sunshine, which really made the house, built out of Ham stone, look golden. There was very much a wow factor about this house, which was only the country home of Lord Edward, but at the time the grandest country house of its sort, not just in England, but also Europe.

 

On arrival we were given a brief introduction to the history of Montacute House and then the children were split into three groups, where each had their own tour of the house and then a different workshop. These included miniature portraits, portrait sketching and designing family shields. The tour started with what the kitchens were like in Tudor times, how they managed to cook and the sort of food the rich and poor ate. From there we went into the great hall where we came across a Tudor cartoon. In this case, not in a newspaper, but a frieze on the wall! As the tour progressed the children were impressed with the library and its wonderful stained glass window, although James wasn't too keen on this room because he thought it smelt strongly of vinegar. The tour ended on the top floor with the Long Gallery. This is where Montacute House is fortunate enough to have on loan paintings from the National Portrait Gallery. Olivia was particularly impressed with one portrait which appeared to have a moving foot as you stood in different places.

 

This was the first time this trip was tried and the general feedback from the children was that it was a great success. Much of interest had been learnt; the children had gained an insight into the lives of the rich and poor in Tudor times and were fortunate to view some marvellous paintings first hand that they had only been able to see before in textbooks or on the internet.

 

 

15/06/2010