Scarecrow Competition at Doddington
Our search for schoolchildren to help us scare the crows (and other birds!) at Doddington has been a great success. We now have 12 schools entered into the competition so the Kitchen Garden allocation is full; however we are accepting additional scarecrows to be displayed in the Farm Shop Courtyard as we don't want to disappoint any of the children.
We launched our scarecrow competition to help keep the birds away from the crops growing in our two-acre Kitchen Garden but it is also a way to get schoolchildren thinking about how crops are grown and how farmers worked in previous centuries. Local schools are being invited to make a scarecrow between now and 28 May (closing date). Those displayed in the Kitchen Garden will be free for the public to see. (Free admission except Sundays, Wednesdays & bank Holiday Mondays). The scarecrows in the Courtyard will be able to to be seen when the Farm Shop is open. The winning scarecrow - chosen from the 12 displayed in the Kitchen Garden - will earn its class a free school trip to Doddington Hall for up to 40 children.
Our restored two-acre Kitchen Garden and our Veg for All school visit has been supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The walled Kitchen Garden was returned to being fully operative in 2007 and brings a lot of pleasure as well as inspiration to hundreds of visitors.
To make their scarecrows, we’re asking schools to use some recycled items as originally the farmers would have made their scarecrows from whatever resources they had to hand such as rags, straw and even boots with holes in. Once installed, the children and their families can come and see their creations hard at work in the Kitchen Garden, which is open free most days.
We’d love the teachers and children to imagine that they were farmers from many years ago and to think about what they could use that would reflect times past.
Entry is free but schools must register with our schools officer Catherine Lee who can be contacted via 01777 228 508 or schools@doddingtonhall.com
Scarecrows will be judged on creativity, whether it is strong enough, use of recycled materials and whether it will actually scare birds away! Judges will be Claire Birch, the Hall's owner and Gavin Roberts, head kitchen gardener, together with some of the volunteer gardeners.
Fun scarecrow facts!
1. If Doddington Hall was in Scotland, it would be looking for a ‘tattie bogie’, in Somerset it would be a ‘mommet’ or in Devon a ‘murmet’.
2. If today was Medieval Britain, the Hall would actually be looking for ten young boys as in those days the job was given to boys aged nine or over whose job it was to shoo the birds away. If a bird landed, they would run after it waving their arms or by throwing stones. The Great Plague in 1348 killed half the population, and so farmers faced a shortage of bird shooers. To improvise, they made scarecrows with sacks of straw, ragged clothes and faces carved into large turnips or gourds.
3. We think a traditional scarecrow is a rural treat. They do a great job at protecting seeds and crops and offer a quieter and greener way to scare the birds as these days many scarecrows are propane gas guns or reflective ribbons.
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