Everyday Life in a Northumbrian Manor:
Animating the Manor
In 2019 Northumberland Archives was awarded a grant of £73100 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to run a project ‘Everyday Life in a Northumberland Manor’. The project promotes the use of manorial records by family and community historians and other researchers.
As part of the project, copies of manorial documents were taken into two First Schools in Northumberland to inspire an animation project.
Sele First School – March 2024 – 27 pupils
Hexham First School – June-July 2024 – 13 pupils
Workshop 1 – Introduction to Archives and Manors
What is an archive?
Introducing children to archives – looking at a range of archival documents including our oldest document from 1156.
What is a Manor?
Introducing children to manors by looking at a range of Manorial documents and the Manorial Map.
In the marketplace
A visit to Hexham’s marketplace for a then and now comparison. A look at the Moot Hall – the administrative building for the Manor of Hexham – and creating Manorial customs.
Workshop 2 – A Deeper Dive into the Manor
Oral history
Listening to oral history recordings about Hexham marketplace in the past.
Identifying buildings and structures in the Manor of Hexham
Looking at documents and photographs to find evidence of what took place in the Manor of Hexham.
Identifying buildings and structures in the Manor of Hexham
Looking at old maps of Hexham to identify the buildings found within the Manor.
Cardboard Manors
Using MakeDo Kits to construct buildings found in the Manor of Hexham from cardboard.
Workshop 3 – Animating the Manor
Stop-motion animation workshop using clay figures to create a scene from the Manor of Hexham inspired by the previous two workshops.
Project Legacy
The children’s work is available to view on our YouTube channel.
Hexham First School
Sele First School
