Expanding City 1660 – 1850
Find and discuss: Adult prompts to inspire
discussion and investigation with primary
schoolchildren
This will help you find some key objects and displays, but please be guided
by your pupils. Discuss the things they find interesting.
The questions on the back can be used as starting points for discussion.
Wellclose Square
prison cell
Dolls and
doll’s house
Pleasure Gardens costumes
and film
Great Exhibition
Map slider
Steam & sail
Timeline around wall
Grocer’s shop
Pawnbrokers
Toy shop
Pick up a gallery guide for more information on the Pleasure Gardens and the Victorian
Walk.
Expanding City 1660 – 1850
Find and discuss: Adult prompts to inspire
discussion and investigation with primary
schoolchildren
Questions to help discussion
Use the timeline around the inner wall to discuss the timespan of the gallery.
London Made
 Look around all the things made in London during this time. Pick your favourite.
 Find Ann Fanshawe’s dress. It was made by skilled Huguenot immigrants. Where
did they come from? What can you find out about Ann Fanshawe?
 Find the Great Exhibition model. What was exhibited and why?
 What new inventions changed life at this time? (Consider steam power, train lines
and the London Underground, photography, etc).
Empire
 What was the British Empire and which countries belonged to it? Discuss Britain’s
relationship with these countries and people today.
 Find the British Empire map slider. Discuss how steam changed travel and find out
what was traded across the Empire.
 Find the paintings Eastward Ho! (1857) and Home Again (1858) and use the guide
to find the same people in both paintings. Discuss their journeys.
 Who was Admiral Nelson? Can you find Nelson’s sword?
 How multicultural was London at this time? Why did people move to London?
Life Chances
 What do you think life was like in Wellclose Square prison? Look at the graffiti
writing on the cell walls. Who do you think wrote these messages?
 Can you find the sedan chair? What was it used for?
 Find the dolls. What are they made of and who played with them?
 Find the doll’s house and discuss what happened in each of the different rooms and
the role of servants in large houses.
Pleasure Gardens
 What were pleasure gardens? Watch a bit of the film. What would it have been like
to visit? How do they compare to parks today?
 Discuss the different clothes and the people who would wear each. Is the child in a
dress a boy or girl? Use the guide for more information.
 Do you think these clothes would be comfortable or uncomfortable to wear? Why?
 How long do you think it would take people to get dressed?
Victorian Walk
 Walk around and discuss the shops. Imagine you are in Victorian times. What do
you think you would see, hear, and smell in the streets?
 How was shopping different to today?
 What was a pawnbroker? Look in the window for clues. Find the statue of Queen
Victoria and Prince Albert in the pawnbrokers. Who were they?
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The museum cannot take responsibility for edited content.