History
KS2
Victorian Thornham
The children are taken back in time to the hey day of the estate. They discover the people who lived and worked here around 1851 - from the Henniker family to the local brick layer. Each child is given the profile of an Estate person and they find out more about them during the day. We visit the Walled Garden and Thornham Magna church. The church was renovated using items from the Great Exhibition. We look at the gravestones and find out about the illnesses people at the time suffered from.
Thornham Magna Church
We look at the building and the materials used to build it. The windows, doors, chancel, nave and tower are put in the right place on a plan. Inside we add the altar, pulpit and font. Then we look at the hatchments on the walls and the stained glass windows. We think about the Henniker family who have used the church over the years, their memorials and how they have changed over time. Then back in the churchyard we look at the gravestones and certain people buried there. The children search for wildlife living in the churchyard. Some groups use this opportunity to sketch.
Thornham Parva Church
This unique thatched Saxon church is within the estate. We look at the building, the materials used and how it has changed over time. The windows, doors, chancel and nave are put iin the correct place on a plan. When inside we add the altar, pulpit, chancel screen, font and Saxon window. We look at the wall paintings and the stories behind them which includes the local legend of King Edmund. There is Bible dated 1640 in a glass case in the church. The mediaeval retable has recently undertaken 7 years of restoration. The local villagers were determined it should be returned to the church rather than put in a museum. It shows a painting of the crucifixion and saints, it is thought to have been painted for the Benedictine Priory at Thetford. It was lost for many years and then discovered in a barn. Outside the church we look at particular graves, some artists and some local workers.
Thornham Parva Retable
cross curricular history/art
This course will take the children in the footsteps of Roger, a local Thornham resident in the year 1400. He had been on a pilgrimage to Walsingham in the past and thought he would repeat the experience, with his first stop being Thornham Parva Church. We discover his beliefs, what life was like at the time and the reasons for going on a pilgrimage. The children learn about the crafts, clothes and illnesses of the time . We find out about the market at Diss and the fair where Roger went to sell and trade goods. After arriving at Thornham Parva Church we discover the newly painted walls telling stories from the Bible and the local legend of King Edmund. We look at the Retable and think about art, how it was painted and the materials used. We think about the symbolism and how to understand who is in the painting. The huge stained glass window would have been new at the time too. Here Roger leaves us to carry on his journey alone and we retrace our steps to the Field Centre.
Back at the centre there is a reproduction of the retable for us to study closely. Thinking more about art at the time the children do their own painting