Victorian Experience Day

Year 5 visited Burghley House for a Victorian experience day. It started with an extensive tour of the house before it was open to the general public. We saw the room in which the young princess Victoria stayed, which included a four-poster bed and an amazing tapestry with an angel who 'winked' with different eyes as you walked past! There were several portraits of Queen Victoria to see, gifted to the house after she visited, and memorabilia from her stay including a pair of her gloves and the child's spade she used to plant a tree.

After a quick break, the children were put into small groups and they had to guess the use of genuine Victorian objects. Pupils were then given Victorian servants' jobs to do – polishing shoes, folding laundry and setting places for dinner; alongside some Victorian pastimes – scrapbooking, cup-and-ball, making a model village. Following lunch we played some classic Victorian parlour games which the pupils really enjoyed, including 'Lord Bean', a spelling game, guess the counters in the hand, and their favourite which was an elimination game involving portraits of iconic Victorians.