Shire Hall



Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum #MuseumAtHomeActivity Sheet 2: Plaques, Protest &Entrances.Whilst Shire Hall is closed, we have been busy behind the scenes putting together some ideas for fun activities you can do at home. We will be moving through the museum looking at the different rooms, so you can explore our museum at the same time! We really miss welcoming our school groups and seeing the wonderful work they do, so please share your results with us.We hope you enjoyed our last activity sheet, this time we have lots of new things for you to do, so let’s crack on………!Find out more.....Remember last time, we found out a little bit about Shire Hall’s architect Thomas Hardwick and his famous student J.M.W. Turner? Did you make a junk model Shire Hall? We would love to see your work!We said we would tell you about what we found at Shire Hall which tells us a little bit about the people who built it. Up on the roof, we found evidence of what the men who nailed the slates on the roof and fixed the lead gutters and flashing (weather protection) had for their snacks and lunch.Here’s a clue:131752316400Have you guessed what they are? Yes!! These are oyster shells!Not many of us would have oysters in our lunch boxes these days, they are really expensive and are only really eaten in restaurants. Oysters have been popular since Roman times and were thought of as a poor man’s food for 100s of years. This was because meat wasn’t eaten much as it was expensive, and rare at certain times of the year.The Oysters left behind by the workmen at Shire Hall were probably from Poole Harbour where they were plentiful and pickled in barrels, a cheap nutritious snack or meal to fill you up. Don’t forget to put oysters on your shopping list! Plaques and Protest!!Before we finish with the front of Shire Hall, let’s have a last look at the front of the building.Watch the quick YouTube film ‘Shire Hall the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ on our YouTube channel. (don’t forget to have a grown up with you, so you can show them)Can you……Miles and Miles and Miles!Shire Hall has a milestone marking on the wall, which tells you how far you are from Hyde Park Corner in London, Blandford and Bridport in Dorset.Fill in this table with the right numbers of miles:Shire Hall Hyde Park CornerBlandfordBridportOne mile is the same as 1.60934 kilometres, can you add another column to the table and write the distances in kilometres?How about using a map or map website to work out these distances in kilometres.Lyme RegisPooleShaftesburySwanageYour HouseShire HallHyde Park CornerBlandfordBridportPerfect Plaques!The plaques were put up on the front of Shire Hall to remember the Tolpuddle Martyrs who where tried at Shire Hall in 1834. We will be finding out much more about these 6 men at another time, they are the most famous people to appear in the courtroom at Shire Hall. People walking past our building can see an image of the men. Design a plaque that goes on the front of your house, which would tell people walking past about your house and the people in it.Don’t forget to share it with us!Now let’s go through the mysterious blue doors into the entrance hall at Shire Hall.Find out more.....Watch the quick YouTube film ‘Shire Hall Entrance Hall’ This is the entrance where all the important people would have come in to Shire Hall. The huge doors, beautiful arched windows, grand stairs and high ceilings show this was an important place. In fact, it was one of the most important places in Dorchester, where law and order was kept and where local government was seen to. When the important court sessions were held here, the judges and officials walked in a procession from the church in their finest robes, wigs, staffs and posh paraphernalia!Some activity ideas for you to do……Stand up and be counted!!On the walls of our entrance hall, we have chosen some quotes from people from recent history and further in the past. These tell us about justice, or fairness, and why it is important that people are treated fairly, not just in the courtroom, but everywhere.My favourite is Martin Luther King Junior’s “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King was a very important African American who was leader of the civil rights movement in America in the 1950s and 60s. African Americans were treated badly and discriminated against at that time, the civil rights movement fought for equality for all people regardless of the colour of their skin.This is important to me, what is important to you?Think of an issue or something that is important to you. Create a protest poster with a really catchy quote, pictures, information, whatever you think will help get your point across and which will make people think.Share it so we can join your campaign!What’s behind the blue door?!Unfortunately our big blue doors are closed all the time at the moment.Mysterious doors have appeared in many stories and books from the wardrobe doors in CS Lewis’ Narnia, the tiny and huge doors in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’, the locked garden door in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’, Neil Gaiman’s mysterious door in ‘Coraline’ leading to a scary other world, and of course the many doors in the Harry Potter books, some of which look like doors and some of which don’t!Use your imagination, if you were stood outside the locked blue doors of Shire Hall, what amazing, mysterious, scary, monstrous, fantastic, spooky, secret or wonderful things would you find on the other side?Write a story or poem and tell us what lies behind the doors!If you would prefer to use your artistic skills you could make a piece of art, collage or sculpture instead. Or you could do both!!Research…….The Tolpuddle MartysMartin Luther King.The civil rights movement – look out for the story of Ruby Bridges.An idea of your ownDon’t forget to tell us what you have found out!That’s it for now, we hope you have fun!Next time we will be looking at the Dorset peasantry and finding out what they had in their Victorian drinks bottles!Keep in touch with us, we would love to see your work and if you have any questions or ideas about what you would like to find out or do, then message or email me anne.brown@ ................
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