Kids

The Victorians

Welcome to our guide to the Victorians, where you can learn about England’s history, discover more about our sites and find loads of fun things to watch, read and do! Here's what we've got in store for you:

Image: Illustration of Victorian cook Mrs Crocombe mixing a bowl with a table of food behind her

What's for dinner in a Victorian country house?

Lord and Lady Braybrooke are holding a grand dinner party at Audley End. Dinners could be fancy affairs, with as many as 15 to 20 guests enjoying several courses, each served with wine from the house cellar.

Find out what's on the menu and download a poster to colour in your own kitchen scene. Then try cooking one of Mrs Crocombe's recipes for yourself!

Join Mrs Crocombe in the kitchen

Victorian videos

Featured: Homes Through History | Episode 7: Meet the Butler at Brodsworth Hall

Join young English Heritage Members as they meet Mr Chuck, the butler at Brodsworth Hall.

Accompany Mr Chuck as he guides you around this beautiful Victorian building in South Yorkshire. Learn more about what a butler is and what their work involves. Find out who owns the house, who designed it and what life is like for Mr Chuck at Brodsworth Hall.

Darwin's Domain

Who was Charles Darwin? Explore the life of this famous Victorian scientist - his family home at Down House, his experiments and a very famous book!  Plus, find out how you can have a go at conducting your own experiments at home, inspired by Darwin.

Discover Darwin

Things to make and do: get creative with our Victorian themed activities

  • BAKE some QUEEN DROP BISCUITS

    Bake some queen drop biscuits, using instructions from a handwritten recipe in Mrs Crocombe’s very own book.  Download the recipe, and ask an adult to help you to make the biscuits.

  • DESIGN A CARD FOR QUEEN VICTORIA

    Discover how Queen Victoria liked to celebrate her birthday as well as the history of birthday cards, then use this as inspiration to design a card fit for a queen!

  • Colour a Victorian poster

    Download this sheet to colour your own version of our Victorian history timeline poster!  Get creative with coloured pencils, pens or paints to bring this scene to life.

  • More things to make and do

    Browse our best ideas and get hands-on and crafty with history – there’s plenty to be inspired by. Simply download our easy-to-use templates and instructions, and get making!

Queen Victoria's Story

How much do you know about Queen Victoria's life?

Explore some of the best bits from her story, from her strict childhood, to becoming queen, marrying her prince and ruling the British Empire...

Discover Queen Victoria

Quiz: Could you make it as a Victorian apprentice gardener?

Take our fun quiz to see if you could have cut it in a 19th-century English country garden!

Take the quiz!
Young children reading a copy of The Kids Rule! Guide to Victorian England

THE KIDS RULE! GUIDE TO THE VICTORIANS

Read Kids Rule! magazine online to learn about the Victorians, including the story of Queen Victoria’s holiday home on the Isle of Wight, the experiments famous biologist Charles Darwin did in his garden and what would have been included in a Victorian feast. Plus, we’ve also got a quiz to help you discover if you could have made it as an apprentice gardener.

This is issue 10 in our series of Kids Rule! magazines following the history of England. Each issue is designed to help you discover more about our properties through fun facts, illustrated stories and games.

Read The Magazine

Download a Victorian poster!

Image: illustration of a busy Victorian industrial city

We've created a series of posters showing how people lived in England through the ages, like this one showing life in a busy Victorian city. If you're feeling creative, why not download our blank sheets and colour your own posters using pencils, pens or paints.

Each of the historical posters follow on from each other, so that when you download them all you can create your own mega timeline of English history!

Download your poster
'step into englands story