Issue 35 autumn 2022 - Flipbook - Page 51
Emma Hawthorne says: “Children are vitally important
not only to the future of Sudbury Hall but also to the
future of the heritage sector. We want to continue to build
these relationships and start what we hope will be a
lifelong connection to Sudbury, and our shared heritage
more broadly.”
Assistant Director for Midlands and East of England,
Emma Hawthorne, says: “Sudbury has long been a place
that attracts families and we could spot the potential to
engage children and young people here more than ever
before, helping future generations discover the country
house. We want it to be a place of wonder and we’ll be
inviting children to bring their imagination and a thirst
for exploring.
Activities are all inspired by the historic use of each part
of the hall, such as:
l Planning adventures and voyages in the book-lined
Talbot Room, evocative of the Grand Tour, where
children can move model ships about on a specially-commissioned map carpet.
l Curling up with a book in child-sized chairs in the
Library.
l ‘Becoming a portrait’ in the Long Gallery, encouraging
children to think about the symbolism of the portraits that
line this 138ft space.
l Choosing a costume and dancing, clapping or singing
along to music in the candlelit Saloon, where the Vernon
family who originally owned the hall would historically
have entertained.
l In the Great Stairhead Chamber, designed to impress
and be admired, a card game titled ‘Objective’ encourages
children to pay attention to the elaborate details and
special objects around the room.
“Our aim is to be a place where everyone feels comfortable, welcome and can lead their own visit, developing
their knowledge, confidence and curiosity as they explore
the collections, stories and history. The house and gardens
are for everyone and there’s nature, beauty and history
on offer for all ages. Visits work when all generations can
explore and appreciate the place.”
To create The Children’s Country House, National Trust
staff worked with 100 ‘Ambassadors’, aged up to 12 years,
to devise and test ideas, first in digital sessions and then
via in-person workshops at the hall.
General Manager Jodie Lees says: “The children told us
they wanted a clear welcome space to set the scene for
their visit and help them know how to ‘engage’ in the hall.
They also designed the wooden grasshoppers – inspired
by the plasterwork in the house – that now help draw
visitors in to explore the garden.
“In workshops with poet and playwright Toby Campion,
the Ambassadors imagined what the house’s portraits
might be saying to each other. The result is that through
a series of speech bubbles, the portraits appear to be
having a conversation as you walk along the Long Gallery.
It’s light-hearted and fun, but it also helps contextualise
the sitters.”
Visitors are also encouraged to notice and enjoy the hall’s
lavish craftsmanship. At the base of the Great Staircase,
the finest staircase of its age still standing in an English
country house, they can use a convex mirror to look at
the extraordinary ceiling paintings and carvings depicting
garlands of fruit, flowers and palm branches.
In the Long Gallery, children are invited to lie down to
appreciate the sophisticated plasterwork of the ceiling,
featuring animals such as grasshoppers, unicorns, boars
and dragons.
At the end of the Long Gallery is a booth where children
can learn about the hidden symbolism in historic portraits
and choose from a range of props and backdrops to create
their own portrait.
Elsewhere, a ‘Pantry of Destruction’ brings the importance
of conservation to life, with creative displays on some of
the agents of deterioration that threaten historic houses
and collections, including fire, flood, incorrect temperature and pests. In the service areas, children can make airdry clay models inspired by the house’s plasterwork and
explore what it takes to look after a country house like
Sudbury Hall.
Jodie continues: “This is a new way for a Trust house to
work with children, and we’ve built close relationships
with the children and their families. The children have
been part of this process and enjoyed sharing their ideas,
thoughts and feedback but above all they love that this is
somewhere tailored for them.”
Eleven-year-old Ambassador Mahnoor Daoudi says: “So
far this experience has been amazing and it has been really
exciting to know I’ve been part of developing it. In one of
the workshops I played a game from Victorian times called
the “Queen’s breakfast” which is a memory game. My dad
and I had so much fun playing this that we now all play it
at home. I can’t wait to visit when the hall is complete.”
And in the family apartments, children can complete
challenges and riddles to solve a periodically-changing
mystery about a moment from the hall’s history – the
first is inspired by evacuees taken into the Derbyshire
countryside during the Blitz.
Alongside these activities, staff have developed a
thorough conservation plan which safeguards each room
by protecting fragile or precious objects and colour-coding
items which can be handled. In the library, historic books
As the home of the Trust’s much-loved Museum of
Childhood, housed in the former service wing, the hall
was a natural choice for the project.
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Conservation & Heritage Journal
49