While the Literacy Trust is warning that children’s writing enjoyment is at an all-time low, Cirencester school children collaborate to create a new town guidebook
We’ve collaborated with fifty-nine schoolchildren to create a new guidebook which tells the story of the Storming of Cirencester – written from the perspective of the people and animals who witnessed it.
Lorna Brookes from publisher Crumps Barn Studio led the project. “Very few people know that Cirencester had an important role to play in the early days of the English Civil War. I certainly didn’t.
“Then I began working with the Year 5 pupils of Powell’s Church of England School in Cirencester to tell the story of what happened through the eyes of people – and animals – who witnessed it. Until then, I had no idea that the town witnessed a shocking assault in 1643 by a well-equipped army of 7000 men against a civilian population. More than 300 people died. It must have been terrifying.”
On 2 February, King Charles I commanded his army of Royalist soldiers to surround the town. Within four hours, the town defences were overrun and the town’s men imprisoned in the Parish Church in terrible conditions before being forced to march to Oxford to apologise.
“The book serves as a guide to the battle. It leads readers on a tour of the town with a map and photographs of the principal locations. And through their amazing stories, fictional diary extracts and historical notes, the young writers have really brought to life the experiences of the townspeople who were trying to defend the town, the men and women, the boys and girls and even their pets. I knew as soon as we started working on this book that it was going to be really special.
“The young writers were aged between 8 and 10 at the time of creating their stories and poems. One of the details which really stands out for me is how brilliantly they’ve captured an overlooked part of Cirencester’s history. They’ve even revealed that the story of Cirencester’s involvement in the English Civil War begins even further back in time and may in fact provide the key to how the war began in the first place.
“Lord Chandos from Sudeley Castle visited the town in 1642, determined to issue the Royal Commission which required all the men of fighting age to join the King’s army against the wishes of Parliament. They refused, and the King was outraged. The war began shortly afterwards.”
The Storming of Cirencester is a collaboration between publisher Crumps Barn Studio and Powell’s Church of England School with support from the Corinium Museum, both based in Cirencester. The book joins Artefact, a collection of short stories, memoir and poetry written by grown up writers, which features objects from the Corinium Museum collection. Emma Stuart, director of the Corinium Museum, has penned a foreword for each book.
Emma says: “Having read the stories written by the children, I am incredibly impressed with their creative visions and the way they have connected to the past. These young authors have really embraced this turbulent time and show empathy with the people, animals and even insects that lived through this war. I hope you, the reader, enjoy their tales as much as I have.”
Teacher Libby Gargett helped to spearhead the project. “As a class teacher, it was fantastic to see the children be motivated by having such a tangible purpose to their writing. What they produced was a credit to their imagination and individual strengths and personalities. We are very grateful to Crumps Barn Studio for offering this opportunity to Powell’s as the pride we witnessed from the children when they saw the final product was lovely.”
Lorna joined the pupils on Tuesday 5 November for a special launch event. “It was wonderful to see the young writers again and personally hand each of them their special author’s copy. They were so excited, and genuinely surprised to see their names inside a book which is already on sale in many local outlets including Octavia’s Bookshop, Waterstones and the Corinium Museum. Their reaction to the book has been utterly heartwarming.
“This has been the first stage of a long-held wish to use the power of our publishing house to foster local young talent. The Literacy Trust recently released a report which revealed children’s writing enjoyment has hit the lowest level they’ve ever recorded. I’m delighted that this project has done so much more than encourage the children to write. It’s shown them that they can create a book too.
“When we began this project, I knew it was going to be special, and yet whatever I was expecting, I could never have anticipated the experience of diving headlong into a world of people and animals and the English Civil War in Cirencester – all brought vividly to life.”
The Storming of Cirencester is in bookshops and online retailers now.
