EVERYDAY MEDIEVAL LIFE
You will visit several houses to find out about how people lived. You have several tasks to complete. Try to do each carefully and in detail and label all diagrams.
Remember
- Treat other people at the Museum with respect.
- Do not shout, scream, run or push.
- Stay with the group leader at all times.
- Be careful on staircases and muddy paths
Plan of the Museum site.
Your aim today is to find out about how people lived in medieval times. You will visit several houses to see what people had in their homes and gardens. You will use many skills, especially description, explanation, cross-reference and inference.
TASK 1 - Go to the charcoal burner’s camp (20 on map). Find where the charcoal burner lived.
Draw a sketch of this home in the box below.
Explain how this hut was built ------
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How did the charcoal burner cook food? ------
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What kept the hut warm? ------
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Why did the charcoal burner live in a hut? ------
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TASK 2 – Go to Pendean (17 on map)
Label this plan, showing the use of each room.
Complete this table, listing as many household objects as you can find inside Pendean.
HOUSEHOLD OBJECT / PURPOSE/USEFind out as much as you can about the furniture in the house. If there is a Museum steward in the house ask him or her to help you.
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Sketch items of furniture in these boxes
This is a ------made of / This is a ------made ofThis is a ------made of / This is a ------made of
Look at the fireplaces and the tools around them. Draw and label a sketch of a fireplace.
What would keep the upstairs warm------
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What would be the effect of having no glass in the windows? ------
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How was this problem solved? ------
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Now go into the garden. What was produced in the garden and the woodland nearby to provide for the needs of the people living in Pendean?
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TASK 3 Now go to Winkhurst (14 on map)
This building contains a Tudor kitchen but many techniques and equipment were the same in medieval times. If a guide is in there, ask about how food was stored, cooked and eaten.
Draw the oven. Label your drawing, showing what the oven was made of, and how large it is (compare it to your height).
Now look up into the roof. What is hung there? ------
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Why? ------
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Write a list of cooking pots you can see ------
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Write a list of all cooking tools and utensils you can see ------
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What different types of food were available? ------
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What food was only available at certain times of the year? ------
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Sketch and label drawings of kitchen equipment, tools etc..
TASK 4 – Go to Bayleaf (12 on map)
Below is a plan of the ground floor of Bayleaf. Complete this plan by drawing on it all furniture in the correct position.
Find out as much as possible about medieval life from the guides in Bayleaf. Write notes about each of the following topics they might tell you about.
Furniture ------
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Eating ------
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Heat and Light ------
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Clothing ------
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Where is the toilet? ------
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Sketch the bed – show the truckle under it.
Choose another piece of furniture and sketch it.
This cutaway plan shows the different rooms in Bayleaf. Underneath is a brief description of each room. Match the description with each room.
Hall / Contains a bed, storage and equipment for spinning and carding wool.Parlour / Two rooms – a buttery for storing barrels and food, and a milkhouse for butter and cheesemaking, and for salting meat and storing flour.
Parlour chamber / A bedroom for young members of the family or servants. Also used for storage.
Service Chamber / The main room with an open hearth, dining table and other furniture.
Service Rooms / The private family bedroom – with its own ‘en-suite’ facilities.
TASK 5 Now go into the garden at Bayleaf.
Find out the answers to as many of these questions as possible. Do not find the answers by asking someone to tell you – find out for yourself
1. What was the ash pit for? ------
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2. What fruit was grown? ------
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3. How did the residents get water? ------
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4. What herbs were grown and what were they used for? ------
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5. How would tansy and wormwood help you sleep? ------
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6. Give 3 uses of marigolds ------
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7. How did white campion help plants grow better? ------
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8. How was woad used? ------
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9. What do teasels look like and what were they used for? ------
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10. List the vegetables grown ------
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TASK 6 - Go to Poplar Cottage (7 on map)
Museum staff often refer to this building as the missing link. It does not have an open fire with no chimney (as in Bayleaf), but it does not have a proper chimney (like Pendean) either. Describe the arrangement for the fire.
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Sketch and label drawings of kitchen equipment and tools etc..
Complete this table of herbs and their uses
HERB / USEComfrey
Sage
Dressing Wounds, Curing Coughs
Opens the eyes to the world of fairies
Pinks
Lavender
Witchfinding
Describe the garden at Poplar Cottage (add pictures if you like).
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/ Bayleaf – A Medieval Farmstead Page 1 of 15