houses & homes in tredegar museum activity pack part 10

190

Houses and homes in Tredegar

during the 19th century

- Museum Activity Pack

191

Where and how was food cooked?

In 19th century workers’ houses,

all food was prepared in the main

living room downstairs.

Food was cooked either on an

open fire or a stove or baked

inside an oven.

Cooking utensils such as pots,

pans and kettles were usually

made from cast iron and were

very heavy, even when empty!

Can you find any objects in the

museum shown in the photo on

the right that may have been

used to cook food or boil water?

Cooking pot

hanging over fire

Open fire Cast iron

Kettle Oven Skillet

192

Draw a circle around any objects that you can see in this photo of a

workers’ cottage, which is also to be found in the museum displays.

193

Draw a circle around any objects that you can see in this photo of a

workers’ cottage, which is also to be found in the museum displays.

194

Ask someone in the museum to take you to case number 7. Then count

the number of objects that were used for making food or drinks.

What material are these utensils made from?

How are these utensils different to those we use today?

Make a sketch of an object used for

cooking food in the box below.


boiling water in the box below.

Name of object: ____________________ Name of object: ____________________

195

What materials are these utensils made from?

What do we use to do the same job today?


mashing vegetables in the box below.


making toast in the box below.




196

Stay with case number 2

How did these objects work?



roasting meat in the box below.


making pastry in the box below.


197




cutting sugar in the box below.


storing cheese in the box below.




198

Food was stored in a small, dark room called a ‘larder’ (photo below)

As someone in the museum to show you

some old containers for food or drink. Draw

the most interesting one in the space below.

Name of object: _____________________________

199

Old ways of counting and measuring Ask someone in the museum to talk to you about 19th century units of

counting money, measuring weights and volumes.

Money

Weight

Volume

200

Ask someone in the museum to show you display cases numbered 3

and 10. Find 3 different objects used for holding a candle.

How were homes lit during the 19th century?

What are they called?

What are they made from?

What are the handles for?

201

Ask someone in the

museum to show

you how clothes

would have been

washed in the 19th

century.

Washboard

Scrubbing brush

Carbolic

Soap

How did people wash clothes in the 1800s?

202

Ask someone in the museum to show you case number 2. Count the

number of any objects used for washing clothes.



Draw an object used to get stains or

dirty marks out of clothes.

Draw an object used to move washing

about in a large tub of soapy water.

203

The type of soap often used for

washing clothes in the 19th century

was called ‘carbolic’. It contained

carbolic acid, which was good for

disinfecting and killing germs. It was

red in colour but had a very strong

and distinctive smell!

For washing clothes in a tub, soap

was normally grated up to make

soap flakes —similar to using a

modern cheese grater!

Make a list of the makes of soap that

you can see in case 2 in the museum.

____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

204

How were clothes dried in the 1800s?

Ask someone in the museum to

show you how clothes would have

been dried out in the 19th century.

Next, find 2 mangles in the museum

like the one in the photo opposite.

205

Find both mangles in the museum —both have parts missing so you will

need to compare the two to work out what a complete one looked like!

1. What materials are both mangles made from? ______________________

_____________________________________________________________________

2. The job of a mangle was to squeeze the water out of wet clothes.

Explain how you think it worked. _____________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

3. Why might mangles have damaged buttons on clothes?

_____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

4. What dangers might there been to very small children

when a mangle was being used? __________________________

__________________________________________________________

206

How were clothes ironed in the 1800s?

Next, find some flat irons

in the museum like the

ones in the photo oppo-

site.

Ask someone in the museum to show you how clothes would have been

ironed in the 19th century.

207

Ask someone in the museum to show you cases numbered 2 and 7.

Count the number of objects used for ironing clothes.

How did the gas iron work? ___________________________________________

Who may have used the flat irons in case 7? ____________________________

How are the irons that we use today different to the ones in the museum?

Draw an iron that was heated by gas. Draw a flat iron that was heated by

contact with a hot surface.

208

What clothes did people wear in the 19th

century?

Cameras were expensive to use in the

19th century so most old photos that

exist tend to be those taken at special

occasions.

Ask someone in the museum to show

you the photo on the right, taken in 1905.

Look carefully at the clothes that the

people are wearing.

Do you think that these clothes would

have been worn everyday?

Next, ask someone in the museum to

show you case number 1.

209

Look carefully inside case

number 1 in the museum.

Most of the items that you

can see are about 100 years

old and would have been

worn on special occasions

or as part of a ‘Sunday-best’

outfit.

Find two babies’ christening

gowns and make a quick

sketch of one of them in the

box opposite.

210

How did people wash or bathe in the 1800s?

Ask someone in the museum to tell

you how people washed in the

19th century. Ask them to show

you some objects that would have

been used.

Find out how miners managed to

clean themselves after a shift at

work in a colliery.

211

How did people go to the toilet in the 1800s?

Ask someone in the museum to tell

you how people went to the toilet in

the 19th century.

Ask them to show you some objects

that would have been used.

Find out how a chamber pot was used.

212

Did cholera affect the people of Tredegar?

Cholera was a dangerous and unpleasant disease that first arrived in

Tredegar in 1832. A new burial ground on the mountain above the town

at Cefn Golau was opened for victims because people were so scared

of the bodies of the people that had died from the disease.

In the museum, search for the remains of the gravestone of a man who

died of cholera at Tredegar. The gravestone was moved here for safe

keeping after it was damaged—it is now in 3 parts.

What was the man’s name? ____________________________

How old was he when he died? ________________________

When and where did he die? ___________________________

_______________________________________________________

What was unusual about his death? ____________________

_______________________________________________________

213

Teachers’ Notes Use of this activity pack will be relevant to the following programmes of study: Wales KS2 / History Changes to people’s daily lives in the locality in the nineteenth century Wales KS3 / History Changes that happened in Wales, Britain and the wider world between 1760 and 1914 and people’s reactions to them It is intended that this activity pack will be used in conjunction with the comprehensive educational resource pack, which is available to download free of charge from the Access to Heritage Project website. Both resources have been produced, as the result of the generous support of the Herit-age Lottery Fund and Cymal, by the Access to Heritage Project, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Bedwellty House, Morgan Street, Tredegar, NP22 3XN [[email protected]; www.access2heritagebg.co.uk; 01495 355662]. All of the activities included within this resource need to be undertaken by visiting Tredegar Museum, which welcomes school visits by prior arrangement. The museum is situated at Tredegar Library, The Circle, Tredegar, NP22 3PS. Visits are free of charge. The museum is run entirely by volunteers who give up their time freely for the benefit of visitors and the community. Opening times are limited and details can be found on the Access to Heritage Project website. Tredegar Museum can also be contacted directly at [email protected] or by phone [01495 726506 or 01495 357869].

214

Further activities

Blaenau Gwent Local Studies Resource Centre at Tredegar library is an excellent, free resource, which is available for research. It welcomes school visits by prior arrangement. It contains an extensive library of books, journals, directories, maps, newspapers and photographs of Blaenau Gwent and, provides free access to online family history resources such as Ancestry and Findmypast, which include census, birth, marriage and burial records. Please contact Tredegar Library, The Circle, Tredegar, NP22 3PS [Tel: 01495 357869 or email: [email protected]].

houses & homes in tredegar museum activity pack part 10

Documents