Rarely seen Victorian artefacts from the Roman Baths museum’s archives were put on show as Year 2 children from King Edward’s Pre-Prep came to explore the collection and find out what life was like as a Victorian policeman in Bath.
In the company of historian and former headmaster of KES, Dr John Wroughton, and P.C Adrian Secker from the Avon & Somerset Constabulary, the children were able the examine and handle artefacts given to the museum to preserve in the 1960s.
Among the collection, not normally on show, are decorative truncheons, first used in the 1830s, a Bath Chief Constable’s Staff of Office, leg shackles, uniform articles including a night duty helmet and even an original copy of ‘General Regulations’ printed in 1880, for the City of Bath Police.
With P.C Secker acting as their guide, the children were able to compare and contrast the lives of Victorian police with their modern day counterparts.
The visit forms part of Year 2’s ‘Victorian Adventure’ topic, where the children have become ‘history detectives’ to uncover what life was life in the Victorian era.
As part of their topic, the children are researching the history of KES Pre-Prep’s main building, which was built during the reign of Queen Victoria.
With local history very much part of Year 2’s history curriculum, a trip is also planned to SS Great Britain, Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s passenger steamship, while an archivist from Bath Central Library is visiting the class next week, to show them maps of Bath during Victorian times, so they can explore how the city looked and developed during the 19th century.
