School and Group Visits to Red House Museum & Gardens
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Workhouse History & Gardens
Step back in time at Red House Museum & Gardens. Explore a historic 1764 Georgian workhouse, ancient Hengistbury Head artefacts, and charming garden spaces.
Historic Workhouse Life
Step inside an authentic 1764 parish workhouse building to explore Georgian and Victorian social history. Youngsters discover how poor law inmates lived, worked, and received care across past centuries.
Historic Georgian workhouse museum with prehistoric treasures, local heritage, and garden spacesEducation Destination
Housed in a former 1764 parish workhouse in historic Christchurch, the Red House Museum & Gardens offers a captivating venue for school residential stays. The museum brings regional social history, archaeology, and community life vividly to life across engaging indoor galleries and tranquil outdoor gardens.
A visit enriches classroom learning across key curriculum themes including Local History, Prehistoric, Stone Age / Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Normans, Medieval / Middle Ages, Tudors / Henry VIII, Georgians, Victorians, Edwardians, World War I, World War II, Changes Within Living Memory, Crime & Punishment, Religion, Agriculture, Food & Healthy Living, Gardens, and Rivers & The Water Cycle.
Youngsters can examine ancient artefacts excavated from nearby Hengistbury Head, inspect Victorian costumes and toys, and discover what life was like for parish workhouse inmates. Interactive gallery trails and hands-on discovery activities encourage pupils to solve historical clues and examine domestic crafts up close.
Surrounded by picturesque herb gardens and courtyard spaces near Christchurch Priory, the museum fits seamlessly into any school itinerary, delivering an inspiring combination of historical discovery, creative exploration, and group fun for every pupil.
Hengistbury Treasures
Examine rare archaeological finds excavated from nearby Hengistbury Head. Youngsters inspect Stone Age flint axes, Iron Age coins, and Bronze Age burial urns to trace ancient human activity along the Hampshire coast.
Historic Garden Trails
Explore delightful herb gardens, woodland paths, and quiet courtyard spaces. Pupils observe seasonal plant species, sketch garden features, and enjoy outdoor learning in a peaceful environment near Christchurch Priory.
Interactive Quiz Trails
Engaging search-and-find quiz sheets challenge students to uncover hidden clues across the galleries. Working in small teams, youngsters inspect vintage toys, investigate old trades, and sharpen critical observation skills.
Costume & Local Crafts
Explore Victorian fashion displays, historic domestic tools, and regional craft items. Youngsters learn how local families made clothes, prepared meals, and managed households before modern labour-saving inventions existed.
Agriculture, Food & Healthy Living
Exhibits detailing local Dorset farming implements, kitchen garden displays, traditional baking, and domestic food preparation highlight regional agricultural life and culinary history.
Bronze Age
Displaying locally excavated Bronze Age pottery, flint tools, metalwork, and grave goods, the museum enables pupils to explore prehistoric technology and burial traditions.
Castles & Defences
Located close to Christchurch Castle and featuring local garrison history, the museum displays artefacts detailing regional fortifications, weapons, and local defences.
Changes Within Living Memory
Exhibits detailing 20th-century domestic life, vintage toys, seaside holidays, and changing local high streets allow pupils to compare everyday routines across recent generations.
Crime & Punishment
Housed in a former 1764 parish workhouse, the venue offers unique insights into Georgian and Victorian pauper care, local parish discipline, and historic law enforcement.
Edwardians
Showcasing early 20th-century fashion, seaside resort history, local trades, and domestic items, the museum illustrates everyday life in Edwardian Christchurch.
Gardens
Featuring charming, herb-filled historic gardens, a woodland garden, and a courtyard, the venue allows pupils to study plant species, garden design, and natural sensory environments.
Georgians
Set within a preserved 1764 Georgian workhouse, the venue showcases 18th-century architecture, social history, local craft, and Georgian parish life.
Iron Age
Exhibits featuring ironwork, pottery, and coins from nearby Hengistbury Head allow pupils to investigate pre-Roman Celtic trade, metallurgy, and coastal settlement.
Local History
As Christchurch's principal museum, the venue captures regional heritage from prehistoric times at Hengistbury Head through workhouse life to modern seaside culture.
Medieval / Middle Ages
Displaying medieval pottery, stonework, and religious artefacts linked to Christchurch Priory, the museum details medieval town life, trade, and monastic heritage.
Normans
Exhibits and local links to the nearby Norman castle, Christchurch Priory, and 12th-century Constable's House allow pupils to explore Norman architectural and feudal history.
Prehistoric Era
Tracing local human activity through extensive archaeological finds from Hengistbury Head and the Avon valley, the museum covers prehistory from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age.
Religion
Displays detailing the history of Christchurch Priory, local monastic life, and parish poor law care highlight the influence of religious institutions on community life.
Rivers & The Water Cycle
Situated near the confluence of the River Avon and River Stour, the venue provides strong local links to river environments, trade routes, and marshland ecosystems.
Saxons
Showcasing local archaeological finds from Twynham (ancient Christchurch) and surrounding Saxon burial mounds, the museum illustrates early English settlement and craftsmanship.
Stone Age / Neolithic
Featuring knapped flint handaxes, arrowheads, and early tools discovered locally, the museum helps pupils explore Stone Age hunter-gatherer survival and early farming.
Tudors / Henry VIII
Exhibits detailing 16th-century local trade, Christchurch Priory's dissolution under Henry VIII, and domestic crafts provide clear links to the Tudor era.
Victorians
Housed in a building adapted into a Victorian workhouse and displaying 19th-century domestic tools, costumes, and toys, the museum brings Victorian social history to life.
World War I
Exhibits covering local enlistment, red cross hospitals, home front service, and military life showcase the impact of the Great War on Christchurch.
World War II
Detailing local wartime defences, evacuees hosted in Dorset, coastal anti-invasion measures, and wartime domestic life, the museum illustrates local civilian experiences.
