Dupath Well

This suitcase invites you to travel the well- worn path of many pilgrims before you and reach the magical well at Dupath in the lush landscape of North Cornwall.

Unearthing, and later rewriting, the ancient legend of Dupath Well allows children to meet Sir Colan and Gotlieb, 2 Saxons who engage in a fierce fight for the hand of a fair maiden. The story transports children back into the time of Anglo Saxon England and allows children to discover how this beautiful structure came into being.

This resource aims to enrich children’s experience of this unique landmark and the surrounding area through a series of creative and sensory activities combining Art, History and Literacy, for use on site and beyond. These are aimed at firing the imagination and helping children become embedded in this site and its fascinating history.

Timescale/Overview

A suggested timescale for these activities would be over 3 to 4 days.

Initial background work using books, films and visual reconstructions to explore the Anglo Saxons, sacred wells and their historical context would be ideal as a preliminary introduction for children. This could probably occupy half a day or a day depending upon the depth of detail you wish to cover

A full day should be put aside to introduce the legend of Dupath Well and work with the children in groups to re-write the legend using the template provided. Once the children are happy with their legend, this will need typing up and printing to take to the Well for the performance. To help children perform their legends, they will need to create a series of puppets and props. This can be done within the same day, but before the visit to the Well, children will need to finish off puppets and practice their performance- with one narrator from each group. For this reason we suggest that this work is stretched over 2 days.

A further day will be needed for the site visit to the Well where the children will perform their legend and explore the Well through other activities. Prior to this visit you will need to collect a range of natural materials to decorate votives, this could be done by the children and/or staff.

Interested in this resource or workshops?

As with all our suitcases, there are a number of options on how they can be used. This suitcase is stored at Dupath Farm, in the building adjacent to the Well, and is free for schools and groups to borrow. Within the suitcase you will find a detailed plan covering a range of activities that have been developed and delivered to previous schools through a series of workshops with Storylines. You can either choose to guide children through these yourselves, or decide to bring in workshop leaders from Storylines; a Cornish Community Interest Company that specialises in delivering narrative focused, creative workshops.

Storylines’s Support

For Carn Grey Rock the following support is available and you can pick and choose depending on what you feel most comfortable with delivering yourself and your budget-

• Using the film to explore different local themes and creating clay tableaux to illustrate some of these (see above)- 1 day-£400 (includes 2 Storylines practitioners and all materials)
• Site visit to Carn Grey Rock- 1 day- £400* (includes 2 Storylines practitioners, all materials and support with the practicalities of the visit)