‘For King and Country’ at Killerton

The National Trust team at Killerton recently worked with four local schools as part of the ‘First World War: then and now’ programme to put on a series of community performance in the house and grounds of the National Trust estate.

Pupils from Broadclyst Community Primary School, Pinhoe CofE Primary school, Silverton CofE Primary school and the Duchy School, Bradninch visited village war memorials and talked to their own families about their First World War past. Helped by National Trust staff, they used what they’d learnt to produce a play which explored the first three weeks of the war and what it meant for the working farms and Killerton estate when people left to fight. Entitled ‘For King and Country’, the play culminated in a compelling scene showing the young men of Killerton charging over the top of the trenches, many of whom never returned home.

The community performance also involved a procession to Killerton’s chapel led by local musicians where the ‘Last Post’ was played. There, the children planted a field of ceramic poppies, each with a name from the village war memorials to commemorate the people from the four villages above who died serving in the war.

Eileen Dillon, Learning Officer at Killerton said: "This was a poignant project which uncovered stories we’ve not told at Killerton before. From July 31 to August 17 we will be showing an exhibition of film footage and photographs documenting the project and an installation of all 239 ceramic poppies that were made by the children with the help of artist Lucy Rockcliff."

The 'First World War: then and now' programme could not have taken place without the generosity of a £10,000 Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant. The HLF is supporting this important work with local communities so that the legacy of the conflict can be explored, particularly with young people in order to help broaden their understanding of how it shaped the modern world.