Today, Year 6 visited Shire Hall in Dorchester as a part of their Crime and Punishment unit in History. The day was jam-packed full of fun activities which taught them all about crime and punishment in the Victorian period.

We learnt all about the real events of Elijah Upjohn, and 11 year old boy, who attend Shire Hall courtroom to be prosecuted for stealing a pair of trousers! We explored newspaper clippings which reported on the events and we learnt what type of punishments Elijah received. Not only was he imprisoned for 3 months but he was also whipped!

After this, we were taken on a tour of Shire Hall and got to see the real cells where people would have been sent. We even went into the room where the Tolpuddle Martyrs were kept, and we learnt a little bit about their history too.

At the end of the tour, we explored the court room and learnt all about the different roles and responsibilities. These included: the judge, the jury, witnesses and the lawyers. We put ourselves into role and acted out what Elijah may have experienced whilst in that very courtroom! We discovered that he did not learn from his first punishment and went to commit more crimes.

It was a very exciting day where we learnt lots about crime and punishment in the Victorian era.

Well done Year 6 for all of your enthusiasm and participation and thank you to Mrs Wallis, Mrs Harris, Matt, James and Lucy for joining us.