Year 2 were very lucky to have a Zoom workshop with the National Archive this week based on the Great Fire of London. When first starting the workshop, the children were introduced to the building itself. They were asked to discuss with their friends what they thought may be inside and why it is an important building. They had some wonderful ideas, and the majority of them thought that there had to be a vase or two in there!
They were then introduced to a very ‘disgusting’ but interesting artefact – a dead rat! They followed the story of this dead rat all the way to the Great Fire of London. They investigated old maps and compared them to now; explored the reasons why the fire burned for so many days and even got to see a copy of a real document King Charles II had written up for hearth tax. This document proved that Thomas Farriner lived on Pudding Lane and had 5 fireplaces and 1 oven. The children thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and asked some wonderful questions.
