Lesson 6
Field work
Aim
To focus the pupils minds on the experience and sacrifice of the men from the Lancaster area in the Great War and to allow the pupils to appreciate the response of their local community to that sacrifice.
Learning objectives
In meeting these aims the pupils should:
· Experience the artefacts available at the King’s Own Museum.
· Visit the unique Westfield War Memorial Village & appreciate the way in which the people of Lancaster responded to the casualties of the Great War.
· Find out the names of the local men from their community who died in the Great War.
Prior knowledge
· The pupils should be aware of the basic chronology of the Great War & the theatres in which the war was fought.
· The pupils should be aware of the nature of trench warfare and the problems faced by the troops in the front line.
· The pupils will be aware of the losses suffered by the King’s Own Regiment, in the Great War.
‘Lesson’ Content
- Visiting the King’s Own Museum. Note: entry to the museum is free.
- Visiting the Westfield War Memorial Village.
- Visiting the King’s Own chapel in Lancaster Priory.
- Visiting your school’s local war memorial.
Resources
· Maps showing the location of the County Museum, Lancaster Priory and Westfield War Memorial Village.
· Teacher’s notes-‘Planning your visit’.
· Details of the County Museum’s opening times etc.
· Fact sheet-‘The British Army in the Great War’.
· Fact sheet-‘The King’s Own Royal Regiment in the Great War’.
Teachers notes
This lesson forms the crucial ‘link’ between the earlier, scene setting, lessons and the ICT component of this pack. It allows the pupils to bridge the gap between the ideas that they have been taught and the reality of the experience of the soldiers from the ‘King’s Own’ & the community that they left behind them.
In addition and most importantly, as they record the names on their local war memorial, the pupils are gathering the raw data for their study into the experiences of the men from their local community who died in the Great War.
Teacher’s notes
Planning your visit
You should allow half a day for the completion of this fieldwork.
These notes assume that your party will arrive by coach. If you do not, ignore those parts of the instructions that apply to coach parties.
Parking for coaches is currently quite difficult in Lancaster. When you book your coach we suggest that you discuss this with the company. In any event we recommend that you start your visit at Lancaster Priory, using the dropping off point for coaches indicated on the map included in this pack.
We have walked the routes between the principle sites that we suggest you visit. The following timings may be used when planning your visit.
From the coach drop off point at Lancaster Priory to:
· The County Museum 8 minutes
· Lancaster Priory 3 minutes
· Westfield War Memorial Village 15 minutes
The following timings are also included for your guidance:
· To complete a tour of the King’s Own Regimental Museum 40 minutes
· To complete a tour of the chapel in Lancaster Priory 20 minutes
· To complete a tour of the Westfield War Memorial Village 20 minutes
Bearing in mind the aims of this fieldwork it would be most appropriate to visit the Museum first of all. Seeing the artefacts on display there will bring home to your pupils some of the realities of a soldier’s experience in the Great War.
However, we would advise that you have no more than 30 pupils (+ two staff) in the regimental museum at any one time. Therefore, if you intend to bring more than one class out of school at a time, we suggest you design a ‘carousel’ using all three sites.
The visit to the Regimental Chapel in Lancaster Priory will allow the pupils to assess one way in which the people of Lancaster reacted to the casualties suffered by ‘their’ regiment. In addition, it would allow your pupils to search the Regimental ‘Roll of honour’ for the Great War & record a selection of names to be used for their original research, if you have no suitable local memorial.
A tour around the unique Westfield War Memorial Village will mean that your pupils are again made aware of the loss of life in both World Wars. The reality of, which will become very apparent when they use Lessons 7& 8 to research the men named on their local war memorial.
The King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum
Curator: Mr. Peter Donnelly. Tel. 01524 64637. Entry to the museum is free.
Note: All of the galleries in the museum are accessible to wheel chair users.
The King’s Own Royal Regiment Museum occupies its own gallery in the county museum. It was completely refurbished six years ago. This included the insertion of a mezzanine floor. As a result, the KORR museum is able to cover the regiment’s history from its founding in 1680, to its amalgamation in 1959 and up to the present day.
We advise that you split up a large class into two groups and we have included a worksheet for your pupils to use in the museum.
Lancaster Priory
We advise that you read the enclosed leaflet on the Regimental Chapel before your visit.
Please inform the verger at Lancaster Priory, in advance, of your intention to visit the chapel. If you wish, Peter Donnelly at the museum (01524 64637) is happy to make the booking for you. This is especially important if you intend to use the names on the WWI Roll of honour as a basis for your ICT work. You would not wish to arrive at the priory and find the WWII Roll of honour on display.
You should allow c.20 minutes for the visit of your class to the Regimental Chapel of the King’s Own Royal Regiment. To reach the chapel, enter the priory by the main porch and cross the rear of the nave to the chapel.
The chapel was built in 1903 as a memorial to the 271 men of the regiment who had died in the Boer War. The chapel contains numerous memorial plaques and three memorial windows.
Point out to your pupils the regimental colours in the roof of the chapel. This is the most complete collection of any regiment’s colours in the country. The oldest colour dates from 1756. A guide to the colours is displayed at the rear of the chapel.
At the front of the chapel, before the altar rail, is the memorial to the men killed in the two world wars. The Roll of honour is displayed inside the glass-topped casket. One page is turned every Sunday. If you choose to use the names listed on the Roll of honour for your ICT work, rather than your own local war memorial, it will make the pupil’s Internet searches easier as you know in advance that every man is from the King’s Own. However, the men that your pupils find are not guaranteed to be from their local community.
Westfield War Memorial Village
At the end of the Great War, a conflict in which 6515 Officers & men of the regiment had lost their lives, it was decided that Lancaster’s main memorial would be a village providing housing for ex-servicemen.
Enter the village through the main gates and walk towards the war memorial. Point out to your pupils that each house is named. Most are named after famous battles in which different battalions of the regiment took part. For example, the second house that you pass is called ‘Le Cateau’. Then as now, the promise of publicity attracted sponsorship & some of the houses are named after the firm or village that sponsored its construction, for example, Co-operative cottage as well as Seascale & Silverdale cottages. Pause at the war memorial & read the inscription:
The Westfield War Memorial Village founded in grateful Remembrance of the sacrifice made by the
King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, the Lancaster batteries of artillery and other Lancastrians in
The Great War1914-1918 Sir Thomas Storey gave the property the cottages were built by public and individual subscription the village was designed by Thomas Hayton Mawson.
Next, walk down Storey Avenue. Pause outside No. 20 and note the plaque commemorating the life of Albert Halton VC affixed to the wall. Albert, who was born in Carnforth, was awarded the VC in 1917 for rushing forward about three hundred yards under very heavy fire to capture a machine gun & its crew. He then went out again and returned with twelve prisoners. Albert died in 1971.
At the end of the road turn left (in order to circle round back to the war memorial). As you return to the memorial note the cottages built after WW2 and named after battles from that war, e.g. Arnhem and Malta.
Note: The most direct route back to the coach pick up point at the priory is between the ‘No entry’ signs at the top of the hill. However, because of the ‘blind bend’ in the road at this point, it is safer to cross the road lower down the hill.
Visiting Your Local War Memorial
Before the field trip you will have to locate the war memorial nearest to your school.
The pupil’s final task before they return to school is to visit their local war memorial and record the names upon it. These names will form the raw material for their ICT project. Each pupil should record 1 or 2 names each.
As you stand before the memorial, looking at the names, ask the pupils to consider questions such as these - Who were these people? Where did they live? Did they have families? What were their experiences in the Great War? What happened to them? How did they die? Tell your pupils that they are going to find out the answers to these questions and tell the stories of these men, stories that have remained untold since the Great War.
Remember, this whole project works for two reasons. Firstly, because the British people responded to the losses that they suffered in the Great War by erecting large numbers of war memorials. Secondly, because of the way in which British Army allocated each of its regiments an area from which to recruit their soldiers. In our experience, between 50%-60% of the men named on a war memorial will have served in the local regiment. In your case The King’s Own.
Here is a list of some of the memorials in the King’s Own recruiting area, remember that you may have to arrange access to those located in buildings.
Abbeystead (Over Wyresdale) Glasson Dock (Thurnham)
Bolton le Sands Halton
Borwick Plaque in village hall Heysham
Carnforth Hornby
Caton Nether Kellet St. Mark's Church
Dolpinholme Over Kellet
Forton & district Overton St. Helen's Church
Galgate St. John's Church Pilling
Lancaster Lancaster Town Hall Quernmore
Lancaster Royal Albert Hospital Scorton
Lancaster Waring and Gillows building
Lancaster Co-operative society (now at funeral home)
Lancaster Ripley School
Morecambe
Kirkby Lonsdale Kirkby Lonsdale school
Kirkby Lonsdale St. Mary’s Church
The Imperial War Museum & The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England have set up the National Inventory of War Memorials (NIWM) this is an organisation to record all the war memorials in England. A network of volunteers is doing the recording.
If your pupils wish to help out by sending in details of their local memorials, there is a recording sheet enclosed with this pack. For further help and advice we have included details of your local NIWM co-ordinator:
Stephen Lowe
130 Gawsworth Road,
Macclesfield,
Cheshire
SK11 8UQ
©2000 'Remember!' was written and developed by Steve Irwin for the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum, Market Square, Lancaster. Email: