HISTORY

KS1

Looking at Building Materials

Looking at the various Thornham buildings, what were they used for?  Looking at building materials both old and new, what effect does the whether and age have on them?  Feeling textures, taking rubbings, comparing these.

KS2

Victorian Thornham

The children return to the "heyday" of the Thornham Estate discovering who lived and worked there around 1851.   Each child is becomes a Thornham character from 1851 for the day and has to find out about themselves.  The characters vary from the Henniker family to the local bricklayer..  We visit the Thornham Walled Garden and Thornham Magna church which was renovated using items from the Great Exhibition of 1851.  In the churchyard we check the grave stones and learn about the diseases of the time.  We have a "harvest home" enjoying sack and egg and spoon races.

Thornham Magna Church

A Norman church with Victorian additions

We look at the building and materials used to build it.  The windows, doors, chancel, nave and tower are put in their correct places on a plan.  Inside we add the altar, pulpit and font.  We look at the hatchments on the walls, the stained glass windows and learn about the Henniker family who have used the church over the years, we look at their memorials and how they have changed with different generations.  In the churchyard we look at the grave stones and who is buried.  We look at the churchyard wildlife, some groups have the opportunity to sketch.

Click here for information about wildlife in the church yard at Thornham Magna

Clickhere for Thornham Magna church photos

Thornham Parva Church

A Saxon church

Thornham Parva church has a thatched roof.  We look at the materials used in its building and how it has changed over the years.  The windows, doors, chancel and nave are put in the right place on a plan.  When inside we add the altar, pulpit, chancel screen ont and the Saxon window.  We look at the unique wall paintings and the stories they depict (King Edmund) We look at the 1640 Bible and the mediaeval tryptich known as the Thornham Parva Retable.  The recently renovated tryptich was discovered in a local barn and its restoration took 7 years.  It depicts the crucifixion and local saints and was probably made for the Benedictine Priory at Thetford.  In the church yard we look at the graves of local artists and local workers.

Click here for the Legend of St Edmund

Click here for Thornham Parva Retable notes

Thornham Parva Retable

(cross curricular course history/art)

Taking the children in the footsteps of Roger, a local Thornham resident in 1400 AD.  Having been on a pilgrimage to Walsingham and wants to repeat the experience.  His first stop is Thornham Parva church.  We find out about his beliefs, what life was like at that time and his reasons for going on the pilgrimage.  The children learn about the crafts, clothes and illnesses of the time.  We find out about Diss market and fair where Roger went to sell and trade goods.  At the church we find the newly painted walls telling stories from the Bible and the local legend of King Edmund.  We look at the Retable and think about the art, how it was painted and the materials used.  We think about the symbolism and who is in the painting.  They huge stained glass window in the church would have been new too.  Roger leaves us to carry on his journey and we return to the Field Centre.  Back at the Centre we look at a replica of the Retable.