Pupils in the dock
Warwickshire pupils looked at punishments of the past last week as they took part in a mock Victorian trial.
Recreating real trials from the 1850s using rooms at the former Crown Courts in Warwick, year 8 pupils from Trinity School in Leamington Spa played judge, jury, prosecution and defendants in the special history session organised by Warwickshire County Council’s Heritage Education Team.
Following tours of the Victorian courts and the more modern cells and 17th century dungeon below, the 60 participating youngsters split into two groups to look at different cases taken from Quarter Session records held by the County Record Office.
For each case the pupils looked at the evidence taken from original depositions from the witnesses and the defendants at the time of the trials and full details of each of the crimes.
Pupils were all given roles to play for the re-enactments of the cases at trial where they learned about how the penal system of the past differed from justice processes today.
Head of Heritage Education Laura Pye said: “This is the first time we have run a session like this using the old Crown Courts and it was a great success.
“The pupils really got into their roles and the session combined with an authentic historical setting helped bring history to life for them.”