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Guided
A Day in the Life of a Monk (2 hours)
Don monks' robes to investigate the medieval monks' way of life through role play and discussion. With our Abbot, you will:
- consider entering the monastery as novice Cistercian monks
- think about why it was a good place to build a monastery
- discover how often monks attended services, take part in a typical service and investigate the building
- find out about the chapter meeting, including punishments following confessions/accusations
- discover what a tonsure is and how often monks bathed
- investigate the Lavatorium in the cloister
- consider what the monks could eat
- discuss why Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and what became of the monks
Find out how this links in to learning objectives.
Under the Bridges (2 hours)
Use your map-reading skills and our photos around the river valley and the abbey ruins to assess the primary evidence about the use of water by the monks.
Students will work in pairs or threes sharing a trail pack, in which numbered pictures correspond to map numbers. On the cards, instructions and questions are to encourage thought and discussion. Extracts from various sources provide evidence, information and an explanation or insight into monastic life.
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Self-led
Under the Bridges (1½–2 hours)
Packs are available for hire from the Learning Team to allow you to run this activity (described above) on your own. It includes an information/answer sheet for leaders.
Looking at the Evidence: The Abbey, and the Mill and Museum
The activities are relevant for pupils studying either Britain 1066–1500 or Britain 1500–1750 and have a focus on historical enquiry and interpretation.
The Abbey (1½–2 hours; pack to hire from the Learning Team)
Working on site, the students work in groups to investigate the Abbey. They search for clues about different places, locating them on a plan and working out how they were used by the Cistercian monks. The pack for this activity includes photographs, descriptions, maps and questions to be used on site and written sources for use at school.
The Mill and Museum (1½–2 hours)
Students use the Mill building and the interpretation in the Mill and Museum to discover more about the Cistercian monks who lived at Fountains Abbey. They look at real artefacts to learn about the lifestyle of the monks and explore the Mill building. Free photocopiable resources.
These two activities can be combined to make a full day activity.
Estate Trails (1½–2 hours)
These eight trails explore the whole of the estate. Trails 5–8 leave the Visitor Centre and go via the Deer Park and Water Garden to the Abbey, Mill and Hall, whereas trails 1–4 do the reverse. They are designed to be fun and informative, and are free photocopiable resources.
To use these, you will need to download a site plan and an Abbey plan from our Useful resources page.
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