Year 5s Visit Hampton Court Palace
As the Fabulous Finish to our Autumn topic, ‘Tenacious Tudors’, Year 5s enjoyed a visit to Hampton Court Palace on Friday 1st December.
It was an extremely cold day and during the Tudor Kitchens workshop the girls were happy to warm themselves by a huge fireplace as a costumed actor turned joints of beef on one of the large iron spits.
We discovered that potatoes, peppers, chilli and tomatoes weren’t brought to Britain from South America until the reign of Elizabeth I and weren’t popular immediately. Also, King Henry VIII’s favourite food was not in fact peacock but strawberries, which due to their seasonal nature were only available for three weeks of the year in those days.
We were amazed to find out that during the Tudor era there was no word for ‘orange’ and people would have described the colour as yellow-red, russet or similar. Once Spanish merchants brought over the fruit of the same name, or naranja as they called them in Spanish, gradually naranja turned into ‘orange’. However, being imported, oranges were very expensive and only affordable for the upper classes.
Our next guide, Bess, named after Elizabeth I, taught us about palaces and trade. We warmed up in the Great Hall, marvelling at the vaulted ceiling and huge tapestries hung around the walls. We learnt that wooden carved faces on the ceiling were to warn the court not to speak ill of the Queen, and that is where we get the expression ‘eaves dropping’ from.
During the Palaces and Trade workshop, we sat around a large Tudor map of the world and saw spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as the manacles that would have been used on slaves from Africa. We played a game, pupils against teachers, moving wooden ships across the map before taking a tour of King Henry’s apartments in the palace.
It was fascinating to see the original oil paintings of Edward VI and Mary I and the chapel, still a place of worship today, sumptuously decorated with ornate golden carvings across the ceiling, painted blue with golden stars. It was also incredible to see a replica of Henry VIII’s crown – solid gold and thickly encrusted with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and pearls.
The trip certainly gave Year 5 an insight into palace life in Tudor times – not to mention what it is like to live without central heating! Thank you Mrs Wilson and Miss Tidey for organising an inspiring day out.
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