Year 5 Visit Hampton Court
On Friday Year 5 went back in time to the Tudor period and had a wonderful experience of what life might be like at Hampton Court Palace. Both classes were involved in a guided workshop entitled, “Investigating King Henry.” They looked at primary and secondary sources of evidence, and had to weigh up the facts to construct a balanced opinion of King Henry, such as whether King Henry was a just and fair king, by asking key enquiry questions.
Before and after the workshops, the children were able to tour many parts of the palace such as The Great Hall, The Horn Room, The Great Watching Chamber, The Chapel Royal (where our very own ETS choir have sung on more than one occasion), The Council Chamber and King Henry VIII’s kitchens.
What did the pupils think about their day?
Katya, “I thought the ceiling of the chapel was a beautiful blue colour with carvings of the Tudor rose etched into it. As I am a member of JETS, I hope we can get a chance to sing there, like the ETS choir before us. I thought the replica of the crown worn by Henry VIII was stunning.”
Alfred, “The ceilings in all of the rooms we visited caught my attention. I thought they were pretty and very interesting and we soon learnt to look up. It was fascinating to learn about the painted carved faces in the ceilings of The Great Hall, called eavesdroppers. These were created to remind the servants that they were being watched and that their conversations were being listened to at night time.”
Henry, “ I found the gardens to be amazing especially the shapes of the trees that looked like giant mushrooms. I wish we had more time to walk through the gardens and enjoy them more.”
Archie, “ I really enjoyed seeing the world’s largest grape vine in the world. It is 250 years old and was planted in 1768. I thought the Lower Orangery Garden and the Pond Gardens were delightful too.”
Olivia, “I found King Henry VIII’s kitchens to be fascinating as we could actually see how they cooked the meat on a spit over an open fire. It was also good to see how close the river was and that this was where they went to wash their clothes.”
Noah, “The part that I enjoyed the most was exploring the Great Hall and reading the information on the table cloths. 600 people could be fed twice a day in the Great Hall. We tried sitting in the large chairs at the top table and we enjoyed looking at the Abraham Tapestries on the walls. Did you know that they are made from gold and silver thread and are worth around £20 000? They show the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac.”
Max, “I really liked seeing all the links back to the Tudor times”
Maja, “I thought the astronomical clock on the gatehouse to the inner court at Hampton Court Palace was fascinating. The people who lived at the court could tell the time, the month, the day of the month, the twelve zodiac signs, the phases of the moon, and when it was going to be high and low tide at London Bridge from this clock. This helped them to know when to sail their boats.”
Natasha, “I found the Council Chamber to e very interesting. We listened to the arguments between Thomas Cromwell and King Henry. I thought the round table was an interesting feature.”
