Year 10 History students have recently visited The Workhouse, Courthouse and Prison Museum in Ripon as part of their GCSE studies into18th and 19th century Crime and Punishment conditions.

At the museum, students were able to gain an insight into what poverty meant and how harsh life was for the poor who were struggling to survive. It was a tragic fact that those who entered the workhouses in the 18th century soon realised that they would only ever be leaving in a coffin;" this is a a poignant thought that haunts the rooms of the museum and its visitors.

Students also observed the Georgian Courthouse and quickly became engrossed in a role-play court case scenario in the Court Room, which helped them to further understand the brutality of sentencing during this time. As an extension of this, a look around the prison enhanced the experience even further; students were able to sit in one of the bleak prison cells, complete with hard wooden bed and slops bucket, and imagine the terror of being strapped into a restraint chair as an inmate or hung in chains!

In the Police Museum, students were able to try on police uniforms and learn about the history of policing and how policies and procedures have changed over the years.

The trip was hugely beneficial for our Year 10s who all agreed that being able to learn about the past through experience was a very effective way of learning to compare the past and the present.