In the 1520’s Totnes was assessed as being the sixteenth richest town in England. The town was home to a successful merchant community and over sixty houses, dating from 1550 to 1640, remain in Fore Street and High Street.
Totnes gives a context for the children’s learning about our Tudor past: merchants, trade, markets, rich and poor, town life, and hygiene. The town also provides a wonderful opportunity to develop children’s skills of historical enquiry – looking for clues, assessing evidence, and recording information.
The children find evidence and hear stories about leading Tudors of the town; undertake simple role-play inside the Guildhall; and explore inside a merchant’s house, now Totnes Museum, finding and drawing interesting artefacts and learning about how the household was run in Elizabethan times. They may even find a cure for baldness or dry hands! (All entry fees included in cost of day).
This day supports Units 7, 8 & 18 of QCA History Schemes of Work