The 11s' English trip to the other-worldly spaces of Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill House gave them the chance to dress up, photograph and make a Gothic comic.
Literary trips rarely have a more exotic flavour than the 11s recent visit to Strawberry Hill House. This 'fanciful concoction' was dreamt up and built in 1749 by the writer, art historian and politician, Horace Walpole (shown in the picture below) and became the inspiration for The Castle of Otranto, Walpole's own gothic novel, as well as a touchstone for the Victorian literary and architectural gothic revival that followed some years later.
Strawberry Hill House certainly fired the children's imagination. Their trip began with a tour of the 'castle' with plenty of scary moments thrown in along the way. One member of staff pretended to be Horace Walpole and another played the part of Margaret, his sister-in-law. The whole group visited the room where Horace had the nightmare which inspired the plot of The Castle of Otranto.
The 11s were then asked to use the atmospheric space and stories as sources for their own creative work. The first task was a literary workshop that asked pupils to create a sequel to Walpole's novel by continuing the story.
Later they donned period dress to take part in a series of Gothic drama workshops.
Finally they story-boarded their dramas, photographed them scene by scene and added graphics to turn them into photo-story Gothic comics.
We're sure Horace would have approved entirely.