The National Civil War Centre - January 2023

On 25th January, we went on a whole class trip to the National Civil War Centre in Newark. The trip was planned as a part of our history topic for the term, which was the English Civil War. 

We started the day with a lesson about the cause of the English Civil War. The children played members of the hierarchy, including parliament, the king, and even God! We learnt about the types of people who fought in the Civil War and dressed up as Musketeers, Pikeman, and members of the Cavalry. 

We held replica weapons and learnt how they were used, as well as taking part in a time trial to re-load and shoot a musket in 30 seconds, which was a lot harder than it looked! 

Our second session was in the map room, where we learnt about real people who lived in Newark during the Civil War. Some of the children dressed up as the people we were learning about. We learnt how different people died during the time that Newark was besieged, as well as learning about how people's jobs, homes, and families impacted their survival chances! 

After lunch, we went on a walk around Newark, where we learnt about important buildings in the town and what they were used for during the war. We even saw the hole in the church that was made by a real cannon ball! 

To finish off the day, we went and had a look around the museum at the artefacts from the Civil War. We drew our favourite artefacts and had the opportunity to ask questions about them.