Sunday, 18 January 2009

A Victorian Christmas on the farm

Victorian Farm is an historical observational documentary series showing on BBC2 at the moment. It follows a team living as Victorian farmers for a year (they wear period clothes and use only the materials that would have been available in 1885). The project is based on the Acton Scott estate in Shropshire.

Working for a full calendar year, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn are rediscovering a lost world of skills, crafts and knowledge, assisted by an ever-dwindling band of experts who keep Victorian rural practices alive.

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This week saw them preparing for winter, as autumn came to an end, and of course there was a traditional Victorian Christmas to look forward to, including decorations, cookery and church carols. The programme ended with them celebrating Christmas Day with the friends they had made over the previous four months.


To see how the Victorians celebrated Christmas for yourself, log onto the BBC's iPlayer here.

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