Harvington Hall

Today we were lucky enough to experience a fantastic trip at Harvington Hall in Kiddiminster. This trip was connected to our current history topic, Tudor Monarchs. 

The day started off with smiles on the coach!

 When we arrived, we were greeted by our knowledgeable tour guides. 

 The first part of our day was a tour around the 500 year old house. 

 Here we are finding out more about Abigail Packington, daughter of the original owners of the house, and Nicholas Owen who built the priest hides used throughout the Elizabethan Era to hide from the Queen's authorities!

Our first peek inside a priest hide... 

We wouldn't like to have to hide-out down there! 

 Here we are in the main dining room, where the wealthy owners of the house and their visitors would have enjoyed feasts and dances together. 

Next, we moved on to Mr Dodd's Library within the house. Here, we were delighted to discover a very well concealed hide. 

 Here are some of us coming back into the library after experiencing what it was like inside the hide. 

 All happy to have discovered such an interesting and well-built hide. 

Finally, we explored the nursery 

 and the chapel. 

After lunch, we got to experience what it would have been like to be both rich and poor in the Tudor times. 

Here we are trying our luck to earn jobs in the kitchens from Master Arthur.

 Master Arthur showed us how a well in the kitchen bought up water for the kitchens... from the sewage-filled moat!

We also got to see what it would have been like to have been very wealthy and to have attended a dance with The Packingtons at Harvington Hall. 

 We all really enjoyed our trip to Harvington Hall today and appreciated the opportunity to learn lots more about the Tudor period. We will certainly have plenty to write in our thank you letters tomorrow!