• Group Visits
• Learning to be Good Citizens at the Museum
• Young Residents at Paines Mill Discover their Roots

Victorian Child at Work and Play

Group Visits

• Out of Hours Visits
• Guided Tours
• Schools Resource Pack available - Our pack contains information and worksheets, which can all be copied for individual students. The sheets cover all the topics which are covered in the museum displays on the history of St Neots. All pages are A4 loose leaf, printed in black and white. The pack was developed with local teachers.
• Handling boxes available for use in the Museum or in schools - Roman Pottery, Victorian Everyday Life, World War II and Toys and Games. The boxes are available at £10.00 for half a term, or £5.00 for a shorter period of a couple of weeks. We advise teachers to book a box well in advance as they are becoming more popular as the word spreads. Due to the expense of setting up the boxes any items which are lost or broken have to be paid for, a list giving the replacement cost of each item comes with the box. Depending on how big we can make the site each box could have its own page with a picture and a list of the contents, each box has about 25 items so the contents list is quite long.
• Coach 'drop-off' point within 200m.

Above: A tour of the Museum cells and exercise yard conducted by Anna Mercer, Curator.

Learning to be Good Citizens at the Museum

Last March, Year 1 and Year 2 pupils from Middlefield Community Primary School in St. Neots visited the Museum to find out about Victorian Crime and Punishment.

Their visit was part of a project organised by Museum Curators Anna Mercer and Liz Davies and Huntingdonshire Outreach Officer Gilly Vose, in discussion with the School's History Co-ordinator, Alison Cracknell. It was the Museum's first project with the 'Huntingdonshire Heritage Programme' , a 3 year project funded by Cambridgeshire County Council, Huntingdonshire District Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, which involves local residents in recording and interpreting their local heritage. Although historically based, focused on the original Cells in the Museum's Victorian court/police station building, this project took a broader approach linked to the School's KS1 Citizenship programme.

At the end of the project, teacher Alison Cracknell commented "The children really enjoyed taking part in this project and learnt a great deal from it. [It] brought the past to life for them" (from Cambs CC 'Learning Together' Issue 9 - Summer 2004)

Taking the Project to the School

Above: Phil Carpenter, Police School Liaison Officer discussing the equipment of policemen today.

As well as the class visit to the Museum, Gilly visited the School, taking with her photographs of Victorian children and policemen and examples of Victorian police equipment, including a truncheon, helmet and leg irons! Children were then able to contrast these with the equipment of present-day policeman Phil Carpenter (Police Schools Liaison Officer for Huntingdonshire) who also talked to the children - a highlight of the session being the handcuffing of their teacher, Alison Cracknell! Some of the children's drawings, completed as part of the project, are shown on this page.

As well as developing their understanding of history, particularly in understanding the plight of young Victorian children who broke the law, the children gained a good understanding of why we have rules and laws and the role of the police.

The Museum is now hoping to offer a similar programme to other schools, and would like to hear from any teachers who would like to participate. The programme could also be adapted for KS2 pupils.

Contact Anna Mercer at the Museum - Tel 01480 388921, or send an e-mail via this website, OR Gilly Vose on 01480 375819, e-mail

Children's Drawings

Above: An image of Paines Mill from the St. Neots Museum archive.

Young Residents at Paines Mill Discover their Roots