Killerton awarded £10k For King and Country

The National Trust has been awarded £10,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a project, For King and Country at Killerton, near Exeter. 

Awarded through HLF’s First World War: Then and Bow programme, the project will focus on the creation of a site-specific performance and art installation. 

To be staged on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 June at 1pm and 4pm the performance tells the story of the impact of the First World War on the people at Killerton and the surrounding estate.

Written by Killerton staff and local primary school pupils the story explores the first three weeks of the war, and how people leaving to fight impacted the working farms and estate.

The National Trust at Killerton is working closely with four local schools, Broadclyst Community Primary School, Pinhoe C of E Primary school, Silverton C of E Primary school and the Duchy School, Bradninch.

The pupils will visit village war memorials and question their own families about their First World War past as part of this project. The pupils will then work with Eileen Dillon, Learning officer at Killerton, to dramatize their research and then with artist Lucy Rockcliff to create artistic installations to help commemorate the people of Pinhoe, Broadclyst, Bradninch and Silverton who died in the First World War.

Eileen Dillon, at Killerton says: “This is a poignant project that enables us to bring this important part of our history to life for local schools and Killerton’s visitors.

"It’s thanks to this generous funding that we can do this important work with our local community to uncover stories we haven’t told at Killerton before and we are particularly excited about using drama, music and visual arts to bring it all to life."

Without the support of HLF, this project could not have happened.

Head of HLF for the North East, Ivor Crowther said: "This impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching and shaping every corner of the UK and beyond.

"The HLF has already invested more than £15 million in projects, that are marking this global Centenary; with our new small grants programme, we are enabling even more communities like this involved in For King and Country at Killerton to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it shaped the modern world.”