We had a fantastic trip to Burghley House to learn all about the Tudors and their impact on our local area. We began by greeting Henry VIII respectfully before learning about his life, wives and incredible inventions.

After our meet and greet, we explored the house which was incredible and all the children were fascinated by some of the horrible Tudor jobs for children including the spit boy. We learnt all about Tudor kitchens and some strange foods (who knew you could eat turtles!?) Look out for the turtle skulls and special turtle cooking pan in the photos! We then climbed the original staircase where famous royals such as Queen Victoria had walked and saw Elizabeth I's bed and the secret doors in each room. We were also amazed by the incredible paintings and murals at Burghley including the Heaven Room and Hell Staircase.

Finally, we rounded off our visit by playing some Tudor games including Lord Bean and the Execution Game before Henry VIII told us more about his favourite foods and famous feasts held at the house. Some of the foods we recognised but others, like swan, eels and lobster were new to us all. 

The children behaved beautifully and both the adults at Burghley (including Henry VIII himself) and those with the school were incredibly impressed by the fantastic REACH values on display and the maturity, engagement and respect shown by all the children