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Houses and homes in Tredegar during the 19th century - Museum Activity Pack
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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
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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.
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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.
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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. Make a sketch of an object used for cooking food in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
Make a sketch of an object used for boiling water in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
What material are these utensils made from? How are these utensils different to those we use today?
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Ask someone in the museum to take you to case number 2. Then count the number of objects that were used for making food or drinks. Make a sketch of an object used for mashing vegetables in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
Make a sketch of an object used for making toast in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
What materials are these utensils made from? What do we use to do the same job today?
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Stay with case number 2 Make a sketch of an object used for roasting meat in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
Make a sketch of an object used for making pastry in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
How did these objects work? What do we use to do the same job today?
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Ask someone in the museum to take you to case number 10. Then count the number of objects that were used for making food or drinks. Make a sketch of an object used for cutting sugar in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
Make a sketch of an object used for storing cheese in the box below.
Name of object: ____________________
What materials are these utensils made from? What do we use to do the same job today?
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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: _____________________________
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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
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How were homes lit during the 19th century? Ask someone in the museum to show you display cases numbered 3 and 10. Find 3 different objects used for holding a candle. What are they called?
What are they made from?
What are the handles for?
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How did people wash clothes in the 1800s? Ask someone in the museum to show you how clothes would have been washed in the 19th century.
Washboard Carbolic Soap Scrubbing brush
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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.
What materials are these utensils made from? What do we use to do the same job today?
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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. ____________________________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________
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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.
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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? __________________________ __________________________________________________________
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How were clothes ironed in the 1800s? Ask someone in the museum to show you how clothes would have been ironed in the 19th century.
Next, find some flat irons in the museum like the ones in the photo opposite.
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Ask someone in the museum to show you cases numbered 2 and 7. Count the number of objects used for ironing clothes. Draw an iron that was heated by gas.
Draw a flat iron that was heated by contact with a hot surface.
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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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? ____________________ _______________________________________________________
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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 Heritage Lottery Fund and Cymal, by the Access to Heritage Project, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Bedwellty House, Morgan Street, Tredegar, NP22 3XN [heritage@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk; 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 archiveclub@hotmail.co.uk or by phone [01495 726506 or 01495 357869].
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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: tredegar.library@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk].