On Tuesday 10th October 2023, 6MC went to Mary Arden’s farm. Mary Arden is Shakespeare’s mum, so the land where she grew up is a great place to go and see.

When we arrived, we were greeted by ladies dressed up in Tudor costumes. Then once we had got into our 3 groups we all went into a room where a lady talked to us about what the Tudors wore. Afterwards, we split into groups and went off with an instructor (who was still dressed up).

The first activity our group did was go into Mary Arden’s neighbour’s garden. We then acted as if we were gardeners and started weeding the flowerbeds and watering the plants with a Tudor watering can called a ‘tinkler’. We also used these two wooden boards to create a loud noise to scare off birds that might eat seeds even though there were none. It was weird but fun!!!

Afterwards, we went into Mary Arden’s neighbour's house and saw the way his house looked. We only went on the bottom floor though. Then we went into a dove's house and saw how many doves there could’ve been. After the dove house, we went into a farmhouse and made wattles and daubs.

Wattle is made out of willow tree sticks that are woven in and out of oak logs and beams. Daub is a mixture of clay, dirt, straw, water and cow poo. When you put these together, you get a wall that is used to make walls. It was very interesting!!!!

Then we painted some apples and leaves on a big cloth to create something like a wallpaper as it was not invented. Then LUNCH!!!!!!!

After lunch, we watched someone churn butter out of double cream. It sounds boring but was actually quite interesting!

Penultimately, we made some lavender bags which, by the name, are bags filled with lavender. They were used to help people relax or sleep. 

Finally, we played some Tudor games and danced like Tudors to recorders, which were very common instruments. 

Overall it was a great trip and we are glad that we went!

By Ashley Hatton- Browne