Pupils have an interactive tour of the site, visiting the sweet smelling apothecary’s garden and even the oldest toilet in Sheffield before dressing up as a Prince and Princess as well as their servants. They will venture up the spiral staircase of the turret house to view a magnificent feast fit for royalty. Back at our Discovery Centre children will make lavender bags to ward away the nasty smells of castle life.

National Curriculum Link: significant historical events, people and places in your own locality

How often did the Tudors bathe and what ailments did they think boiling pigeon droppings in milk would cure? Children will answer these questions and more in our session designed to look at why the Tudors were some of the smelliest people in history.

Pupils will uncover the mystery of the weird and wacky remedies Tudors used to cure illnesses and find out exactly why a visit to a Tudor Doctor was an unnerving experience, even getting the chance to get up close with a plague doctor by dressing up. They will get the chance to investigate herbs growing in the apothecary’s garden and finally make a sweet smelling pomander to disguise the horrible smells of Tudor England.

National Curriculum Links: a local history study and a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ knowledge beyond 1066

Pupils will discover the stark differences between the lives of a wealthy family and their servants in Tudor times by exploring the site, from the decorated banqueting room to Sheffield’s earliest toilet.

Children will have the opportunity to dress up in authentic children’s Tudor costumes, see the difficulties that Tudor Ladies faced in getting dressed and discover just how dirty the servants might have got! They will also explore inventories, creating their own with quill and ink and see how little Tudor peasants had to survive with. Finally children will make a replica Tudor coin purse.

National Curriculum Links: a local history study and a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ knowledge beyond 1066

In this session pupils discover the story of the 14 year captivity of Mary Queen of Scots in Sheffield as well as the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. They will be able to explore the buildings in which she was kept including the Turret House, the only roofed building surviving in England that she would have known.

Pupils will gather evidence to decide whether they believe Mary to be innocent or guilty of the crimes charged against including code breaking messages from the infamous Anthony Babington. At the end of the day they will decide the fate of Mary, Queen of Scots.

KS2 National Curriculum Links: a local history study and a study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066

KS3 National Curriculum Link: a local history study, the development of church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745 and the Elizabethan religious settlement and conflict with Catholics

Pupils will discover how people survived in the harsh stone age conditions. To eat they must learn tracking and hunting skills including making their own spear. They will see how this became easier as weapons developed into bows and arrows. Protection from the elements is vital so shelters from branches and furs will be built and they will try and start a fire using a bow and drill kit.

Imagine squeezing your way into a dark cave to find the perfect place to create a pictograph. Children will have a go at painting by candlelight with their own paint and feather brushes.

The hunters will finish by considering what stone circles were used for, before racing against each other to move the giant stones of Stone Henge across site on rollers.

KS2 National Curriculum Links: Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age