On Friday 21st May Year 5 went to Singleton to learn about life in Medieval Times as part of their History syllabus.

After visiting the water mill and learning about how the grain was ground, pupils watched the blacksmith who was one of the most important people in a Medieval village, working with red-hot iron to make hooks. Pumping the bellows to keep the furnace burning was really hard work!

They then experienced work as farm hands using a flail to separate out the ears of corn.

With no doctors, people in the Middle Ages relied on the use of herbs to act as medicines and we saw many of these in the garden of the magnificent Bayleaf Farmhouse.

Wealthy people would have bought cures from the apothecary who was a bit like a modern chemist. Pupils had great fun making pomander beads from a variety of herbs and flowers which would have been worn to disguise the foul smells of Medieval England!

The idea of a fire in the centre of the room being the only form of heating was quite appealing on a warm day in May but would have been less appealing on a wet and wild winter night!

The visit brought to life much of the work that had been done in school and everybody had a fun but informative day.