As archaeologists Ian and I love nothing better than wandering around archaeological sites, ruins and museums. Of course this doesn’t always sit well the the children! However, our children have visited an extraordinary number of sites, ruins, museums and more. Our firstborn had been to several museums and an academic conference before she was 3 months old! They’ve also been on excavations and had a go at excavating for real!
One of our boys joining in the excavations at Durrington Walls – he’s the one on the right!
Now, as it is the Easter holidays we thought we’d share with you some of the archaeological goings-on we do as a family, perhaps the first of a series? We know that many children might prefer to go to theme parks, the cinema or even shopping, but we’ve always made a point to trying to show ours that there are many other things to do – such as visit museums and sites of historical (or even pre-historical) importance. So, today we went to Eyam here in the Peak District. Eyam is famous for its plague story of course, but tucked away at one end of the village is Eyam Museum.
Sebastian my youngest and I at Eyam Museum.
We’ve been a couple of times before and have enjoyed it. One of the things we like about it is that it covers much more than the plague. Like many other places in the Peak District there are traces of human occupation from prehistoric times to the present-day. The displays are lively, and of course are largely geared to tell the plague story. The most recent displays are part of an award-winning development which tells the story of the village and WWI. I liked the story of the village in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the textile trade made its mark. You wouldn’t think to associate Eyam with silk weaving for example now would you!
The children liked it and Sebastian our youngest had fun with the quiz – spotting a variety of artefacts in the displays. So if you are at a point in the holidays when you need something to do, do go along. Its a multi-award winning museum, run and staffed by local volunteers and we hope it it continues to engage visitors for generations to come.
Just one of the awards Eyam Museum has won!
You can find out more on the opening hours etc on the museum website: http://www.eyam-museum.org.uk/