As part of our History and Geography learning about our local area, Year 1 and Year 2 had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Memories of Marylebone exhibition at Hinde Street Methodist Church on Monday.
We were warmly welcomed by Ruth, Peter and their colleagues, who greeted us with some beautiful organ music as we entered the church. After settling down, we had the opportunity to look around and notice some of the ways that Hinde Street Methodist Church was both similar to and different from our own parish church.
Peter then told us about the fascinating history of the church and the Methodist tradition, including how John Wesley helped to establish the Methodist movement and how the church at Hinde Street came to be built in Marylebone. The children were particularly interested to see photographs of the original church from 1810 and then the much grander church built in 1880, which still stands today.
We also discovered more about some famous historical figures who lived and worked in Marylebone, including Mary Seacole, Olaudah Equiano, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace. It was fascinating to learn that such important people from history lived and worked so close to our school!
The children then took part in a bingo-style scavenger hunt around the Memories of Marylebone exhibition. They enjoyed searching for interesting things, including old maps of the local area, photographs of famous people who had lived, worked and visited Marylebone, and even the Marylebone High Street stop on the London Monopoly board!
It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to discover more about the history of the place they know as home and to see how our local area has changed over time.
A huge thank you to everyone at Hinde Street Methodist Church for their warm welcome, generosity and for sharing so much fascinating history with us. We would also like to say a special thank you to all the parents who volunteered their time to come along and help us. We had a wonderful morning!
