Activities and Events
What have we done so far?
Year one (2018): country house visits, writing workshops, publication of leaflets, research by 10 commissioned writers, children’s conference.
Year two (2019): public speaking workshops, Massive Online Open Course for writers and heritage professionals, exhibition preparation in National Trust houses.
Year three (2020): appearances at literature festivals and black history month events by children, historians and writers, launch of project books.
Years four and five (2021-2022): child advisory boards and project historians assist the National Trust with further research, training and reinterpretation projects on the theme of colonial legacies.
What have the 100 children done so far?
What have the 100 children done so far?
The 100 children across the schools linked with Colonial Countryside have been involved in various projects in connection with the houses they have visited.
Historians have found that as many as one in every six British country houses is connected to the history of empire. Charlecote Park in Warwickshire is no exception. Ten children from Colmore Primary in Birmingham explored this National Trust house with the historian Kate Donington and the writer SuAndi.
Some examples of work done by children at Colmore Primary:
Below are some examples of the creative writing produced by the children. Here is a poem written by Lana and an essay written by Theo in response to a question posed as the children looked at a painting of Captain Thomas Lucy: 'but who is the black page boy wearing the metal collar, standing by his horse?'
The Little Boy
He has no name,
He has no home.
All by himself.
No one sees him in Sir Thomas’s painting.
He wears a silver collar
like a pet
from Africa or the Caribbean,
in the picture as a symbol.
Dressed like an ornament,
a lost treasure pushed to the side.
He has no name,
He has no home.
Lana Habeel
We compiled a book of the children's poems after their visit.
The Horse
I am a horse. This is not a great animal to be when you are painted on a canvas. To begin with, it was just me and a setting sun behind me. Gradually my artist progressed and other objects appeared. A red curtain, for instance, and a turquoise carpet. Eventually a grand head appeared. I recognised him as the owner of the house. He had been in the Dutch War and fought bravely. Slowly his body produced a fine brown coat and a luxurious hat. With him came an enslaved boy. His metal collar glinted in the light. Wouldn’t that collar hurt? I wondered why he wasn’t fully showing. Maybe the artist thought that I, a black majestic war horse, was far more important than an enslaved boy. Why was he treated so badly? I scanned the entrance hall and saw all the riches there. And I thought “what is the point in being rich when you treat people badly?”
Theo
We also compiled all of the children's essays after their visit to record their response to the various items and topics they encountered at Charlecote Park.
Events
Children's Conference 2018
On 16th November we held our first 'Children's Conference' at the Church of St James the Greater in Leicester. Teachers, historians and National Trust staff & volunteers heard about four National Trust houses with connections to the British Empire.
40 primary school children from Wheelers Lane Primary and Colmore Junior School presented on the colonial connections of Kedleston Hall, Charlecote Park, Wightwick Manor and Calke Abbey.
Comments from some of the children at the conference:
Upcoming Events
January: visit to Speke Hall and Sudbury Hall
March: public speaking workshops for children
December 2019: Launch of Massive Online Open Course
All our future events will be listed on the Centre for New Writing Events page. You can also keep up to date with our events by following us on Facebook or Twitter.
For more information about Colonial Countryside events, please contact:
Dr Corinne Fowler
Email: csf11@le.ac.uk
Phone: 07791989672
