Category Archives: Education

Creativity Challenge 2

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Creativity Challenge

Over the next few weeks, we are having a go at some of the activities on the 2020 Creativity Challenge.  Join in with us in sharing your work and enjoy getting creative.

This week, our team and their families have been trying some of the activities from the second column.

20200423_113427We’ve had a go at making paper airplanes and can share one tip for making them fly further – add a bit of sellotape on top to hold the wings together!

 

 

 

IMG_0110Pressing flowers has also been a lovely, relaxing activity – both in choosing and preparing the flowers for pressing, then seeing how they are drying out and deciding how to use the finished flowers.

 

 

 

We’ve also been researching some local myths and legends.  Some of the greatest stories of our district are shrouded in myth such as the legend of the Holy Cross.  Around 1030 AD the Viking, Tovi the Proud, uncovered a mysterious holy cross on his estate in Somerset that had the power to cure those who touched it.  He wished to move it to another of his estates, but the team of oxen attached to the cart refused to move until Waltham was mentioned.  So the cross was brought there, which led to the founding of the church and Waltham Abbey becoming an important place of pilgrimage for many years.

See if you can have a go at writing a more creative story about this legend or find out about another one such as Iron Age Queen Boudicca and whether she came to Ambresbury Banks in Epping Forest to fight the Romans.  Or you could make up your own myth or legend about the district.  Even if we can’t prove these myths and legends are true, they are still a very important part of our culture and history.

Local Legends: Thomas and Constance Taylor

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Local Legends: Thomas and Constance Taylor

We’ve come across some fascinating stories while researching our new school workshop, Local Legends, telling the stories of some important local people…

Part of the building that Epping Forest District Museum now occupies on Sun Street, Waltham Abbey was a house in Tudor times, built during the reign of King Henry VIII. Over the years many things have been found in the old house which give us clues about the people who have lived and worked here.

fireplace lintel initalsThe fabric of the building itself holds traces of the previous occupants. On the ground floor is a fireplace with a wooden lintel above. The letters ‘TCxT’ have been hammered into the lintel in iron nails.

TCT probably refers to Thomas and Constance Taylor, who records suggest were tenants in the house from 1675. At this time the house had just come into the ownership of James Dobson of Covent Garden, who was a leading member of the Company of Drapers in London.

The Taylor family appear to have lived at the house on Sun Street for over twenty years, until 1697. Baptism records from the Abbey Church, Waltham Abbey tell us that Thomas and Constance Taylor had six children christened there between 1671 and 1680; some of the children would have been born while the family lived at the house.

 

The family lived through uncertain times; there was a power struggle between Parliament and the monarchy, and there were many claims for the throne. Charles II, James II and William and Mary of Orange all ruled as monarchs over the two decades that the Taylor family lived in the house.

 

There is a small “x” driven into the lintel alongside the initials “TCT”. This may be a small cross. In the past, people believed in witches, and thought they could get into a house through the chimney, as well as through doors and windows. It was common to try and scare away witches using iron crosses., so these iron nails may have been driven into the lintel by the Taylor family in an attempt to keep witches – and bad luck – away.

 

Constance Taylor died in 1686, but the iron nails are still there above the fireplace today for visitors to the museum to see. Superstitions change over the years, but it seems that none of the subsequent tenants or owners of the building have wanted to take the nails out. Perhaps no one has liked to remove them, just in case they are helping to keep bad luck at bay?

Art and Craft activities

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Week 6 Edit a photo of your favourite toy

Resources you will need

  • favourite toy
  • camera/phone

IMG_4817This week we are having a go at one of the activities from the 2020 Creativity Challenge.  You may have your own smartphone or see if someone in your family will help you use theirs.  There are lots of ways you can edit a photo on a phone, or whichever technology you like to use.  Cath, our Education Officer, had a lot of fun taking a photo of Silver, her old hobby horse.  “Silver got his name because my mum made him for me in 1977, the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee!  I had a go at trying out all the effects and decided on the Silvertone filter because it suited his name!  I played with exposure, contrast and shadows to make the texture of his fur stand out and chose Vignette at the end to make it look like an old photo.  What I really like about this image is that it hides all the fading and dusty marks, making Silver look as good again as he did 43 years go.  I’ll certainly have a go at a bit more photo editing in future.” Don’t forget to share the photos of your favourite toys with us too!

Local Legends: Edward Goldinge

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Local Legends: Edward Goldinge 

We’ve come across some fascinating stories while researching our new school workshop, Local Legends, telling the stories of some important local people…

Did you know that Epping Forest District Museum occupies two old houses on Sun Street in Waltham Abbey? The older house was built in around 1520, during the reign of King Henry VIII.

The earliest resident who we think lived here was Edward Goldinge. He was a groom for Elizabeth I, in charge of the horses at the royal stables near to the Abbey Gardens. Kings and queens were frequent visitors to Waltham during this period, especially for the excellent hunting the ancient forests in the area offered.

Model of Tudor House showing smoke bayThere is a record of Edward living on Sun Street, in a location that could correspond with the house the museum is in today.  At this time the ground floor of the house was divided into three small rooms. The back room, known as the smoke bay, had a fire in the centre for cooking and heating the house. There was no floor above the smoke bay, so the smoke went straight up to the roof of the house and escaped through the rafters.

elizabeth I coin found in 1975 at 41 sun street

Chimneys became much more common later in the Tudor period, and one was added to this house to replace the smoke bay in around the 1560s.  When the museum was being refurbished a small silver coin dated 1562 was found near to this fireplace, which has helped us to date when this change took place.

Also on display in the museum are the remains of a leather Tudor shoe. This was found along with a piece of black Tudor stocking in the house opposite the museum, and together they make an unusual remnant of the past, as such biodegradable objects have usually rotted away over hundreds of years. Edward may have worn something very similar to this.

We have also found clues about what Edward may have done in his spare time. A die dating back to the sixteenth century was found at nearby Romeland in Waltham Abbey. Dice and card games were very popular in Tudor times, and people often gambled money on their games. Elizabeth I was reputed to be a keen card player. It is easy to imagine Edward relaxing at home on Sun Street with a few friends, playing dice or cards and perhaps even gambling a few Tudor coins on them.

If you have ever mislaid a coin, die or other small item at home, perhaps one day an archaeologist will find it and wonder about who you were, how you lived and what you liked to do…

 

 

Creativity Challenge

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Over the next few weeks, we are having a go at some of the activities on the 2020 Creativity Challenge.  Join in with us and our partners in sharing your work and enjoy getting creative.

Shape in the clouds - a river of blueThis week, Cath, our Education Officer had a go at combining a few activities from the first column.  “Trying to spot shapes in clouds (not the easiest one with the beautiful blue skies this week!) also turned in to a chance to sketch the view from a window, then later that evening I tried to turn it into a sunset painting, although it was quite a challenge to capture the delicate pinky golden haze that filled the sky.”

Sunset painting and view from window - Cath

Here is another sunset painted by one of our followers and shared with us:

Sunset

Her friend has also had a go at writing a nature inspired poem after watching birds in the garden with her daughter.  They tried the Haiku format; a three-lined poem with 17 syllables – 5 on the first line, 7 on the second line, 5 on the third.  Haiku, a Japanese type of poem, is often inspired by nature.  They are usually very simple and direct and they don’t have to rhyme.  Don’t worry about the syllables for starters, just have a go …

Pigeon waits patient
Bird between emerging buds
Spring will surely come

Gone from the branch now
A space made in memory
Hope of new life still

Art and craft activities

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Week 5 Collage

Collage 2Resources you’ll need

  • sheet of paper or card
  • glue
  • old magazines, wrapping paper, pictures, cards etc.

 

 

 

 

You can use a mix of images or stick to one theme.  To make it more challenging, you could draw an outline on the paper then make another image out of the pieces you are collaging such as the stem and leaves of a flower.

Try just tearing, rather than cutting out, the images you want to use to get a softer line.

Don’t forget to share your finished art works with us!

Art and craft activities

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Week 4 – Make a Mark Activity

Mark makingResources you’ll need

  • sheet of paper folded into quarters
  • colouring pens or pencils

 

 

 

 

This week’s family fun art activity also comes from Leanne and the Art Resource boxes.  This time, all you need to do is take a sheet of a paper and fold it into quarters.  Unfold it again, then in one box draw circles, in another draw wavy lines, in a third draw a spiral then in the fourth try a scribble.  Add colour to the spaces you’ve created with your lines.  The artist Paul Klee talked about drawing as being like taking a line for a walk – this activity is a great way to practice this!

Local Legends: Dick Turpin

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We’ve come across some fascinating stories while researching our new school workshop, Local Legends, telling the stories of some important local people…

1986.8.958

Turpin’s Cave

Did you know that the notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin, was said to have lived in a “cave” at Loughton Camp, Epping Forest at the height of his criminal activities? In 1735, with his accomplices in the Gregory Gang, Turpin is believed to have broken into Traps Hill Farm in Loughton, the home of an elderly widow named Shelley.

 

When Shelley refused to reveal where her money was hidden, the gang apparently threatened to roast her over a fire. The threat prompted her terrified son to say where their valuables were hidden. The gang found £100, which was a fortune at the time, a silver tankard and some other household items. Rather than making a quick getaway though, the gang made themselves at home, cooking up some supper, drinking beer and wine from the cellar and popping next door to rob the neighbour while their victims looked on:

“They afterwards went into the cellar and drank several bottles of ale and wine, and broiled some meat, ate the relicts of a fillet of veal … and then they all went off, taking two of the farmer’s horses, to carry off their luggage…” – Read’s Weekly Journal, 8 February 1735

Following the incident, worried residents of Loughton, which in those days was a small village in the forest, installed ‘Turpin traps’ in their homes to protect themselves. These were heavy wooden flaps that could be let down to block the stairs, and were wedged in place with a pole. These traps remained in some homes for decades – apparently people living in the 1890s could still remember local homes having them.

Turpin themed ornaments were popular for many years as the legend of Dick Turpin grew. He was seen romantically by some as another Robin Hood – but although an important figure in our local history, sadly all the evidence points to Dick Turpin as being nothing more than a ruthless criminal.

 

 

Art and Craft Activities

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Week 3 – Trace and Colour

This is a great simple idea and fun to try at home.

 

What you need - trace and colourResources you’ll need

  • sheet of paper
  • a pencil
  • colouring pens or pencils
  • lots of different household objects with interesting shapes.

 

 

Place the objects on the paper – you might want to plan your picture by placing them all first, or just do one at a time and see what happens.  Draw around one object at a time with a pencil – overlapping the objects can make a good effect.  Colour in the objects, using different colours where they overlap.  Try colouring one colour over another and see what happens.

Have fun – and don’t forget to share your art.  We’d love to see what you come up with!

Trace and colour

Art and Craft Activities

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Week 2 Family Art and Craft – Easter Bunny!

Easter Bunny Mask Example photo with ears and handle

We are sorry not to see you all at the museum for our Easter Family Fun activities.  We thought you might be missing the museum as much as we are so why not have a go at the Easter Activity at home?

If you would like to have a go at one of the activities at home, here’s the Easter Bunny Mask Template 1 for our Easter Bunny Mask – it’s simple and fun to make at home.

 

 

 

Resources you’ll need

  • sheet of paper or card
  • printer (if not you can draw out the template
  • glue
  • cotton wool and any other materials to make your bunny as fun as possible.
  • string or strip of card

All you need is a sheet of paper or card.  You can print the template off, colour it in and cut it out.  If you don’t have a printer just have a go at drawing it yourself – you can even fold the paper in half lengthways so you just draw half the bunny face, then cut it out while still folded to give you the whole mask!

If you have glue you could add cotton wool and any other materials to make your bunny as fun as possible.  Just tie on some string or staple a strip of card from a cereal box on the side to make a handle to hold the mask in front of your face!  Happy Easter!!