On the Tuesday 18th March, we went to Knebworth House as part of our Tudors topic in history.
Firstly, we went through the scenic gardens to get to the house. We were greeted by our guides who were dressed up in Tudor costumes as part of the tour. We sat down in the banqueting hall whilst our guides talked about the house and its relationship with the Tudors. The house owners (the Lytton family) were originally the treasurers to Henry VII. Holding up pictures and wearing tabards, some of the children acted out the timeline of the Tudors. The class were then split into two groups. Each group were given an empty bag to collect groats in. The groats were earnt by answering question correctly. At the end of the session the groats would be counted and the group with the most would get a special treat.
Library activity – The guide explained about Tudor education and the differences between what boys and girls learnt. Boys would be taught how to fight and read, whereas girls were taught to sew. One of the items shown was a quill. A quill was used to write, by dipping a it in to a pot of ink. The children then had a go at writing with a calligraphy pen in Tudor handwriting. It was difficult to add all the extra spirals and swirls.
Armoury activity – The children then moved into the armoury staircase where the guide talked about weapons and sports. There were big shields and lances that would have been used in a popular sport called jousting. During this game, the aim was to knock the other player off of their horse. It is possible that this is how Richard III died at the battle of Bosworth Field.
State Drawing Room – On the walk to the State Drawing Room the guide spoke about Coats-of Arms and heraldry. We saw that the Tudor coat of arms was a combination of his parent’s (Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor) coats of arms. On the ceiling above the children there were lots of coats of arms, most from the Lytton family ancestry.
Just across the corridor was the Elizabeth Room, this is where Queen Elizabeth I stayed when the Spanish army were trying to attack her. The guide talked and showed the group a selection of Tudor clothing. He explained that if you wore black or purple clothing you would be thought of as very rich but if you were seen in cream or beige, a passer-by would know you were poor. A richer person may also have worn a ruff.
Controversially, a person with white teeth would be poor and someone with black teeth would be rich. This is because rich people would have had access to sugar whereas poor people would only have more nutritious foods like vegetables.
Banqueting Hall activity – Once in the Banqueting Hall there was a selection of Tudor musical instruments which included a lyre, some drums and a recorder that some children had the opportunity to play. We then took part in a dance lesson, where we were shown the Tudor Pavan dance. There were only three steps to learn and this dance would have been performed to show off fancy clothes.
As our last thing before lunch, we counted up the groats and performed a ceremony. A member of the winning team was Queen Elizabeth I and a member of the other team was knighted.
After lunch, the class spent the afternoon in the gardens. They were given their Knebworth House booklets, which they had previously made at school, and they drew pictures of plants, griffins, grotesques gargoyles and fountains.
