Wattle and Daub for Tudor Day

24 Nov 2022 03:49
Published by: Scott Callan

Tudor history is longer merely about battle and beheadings but a-hands-on experience of how the common people lived.

Year 5 pupils at the King's School went back 500 years in time for a living history day with a relentlessly practical approach.

Pictured are Heath Stockton and Xanthe Watkin finishing their session as Tudor builders, applying their hand-made daub mixture to the wattle framework.

Buildings such as Cheshire's beautiful Gawsworth Hall were made by applying a combination of wet soil, clay, sand, straw and even animal dung to a wooden lattice framework.

History Junior Division Subject Leader Simon Thomas: "Obviously, we stopped short of using all of the original mix but showed how the final construction produced a strong and resilient construction material as is proved with the many local buildings that still survive half a millennia later."

The boys and girls practised their writing just as Shakespeare would have done on scrolls with a quill and ink. They learned Tudor dance steps and even made their own herb bags to ward off illness and bad spirits just like a respected Tudor apothecary.

Simon added: "It is important to learn about Political history and the turn of events but the children simply love social history and learning how their ancestors got by day in day out."

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