The Wolverton Children’s Heritage Trail
In November 2016, Artists Annabelle Shelton and Rachel Wright worked together at Bushfield School with twenty Year 4 children to create art work to illustrate a children’s heritage trail of Wolverton. The artistic challenge was to create works centred around the history of Wolverton’s shops and places of interest. Annabelle, lead artist worked extensively researching the shops of Wolverton and created packs of information and photographs from the past for the children to work from. The children, with the help of the classroom assistants worked hard to come up with some great designs in one day.
As part of the children’s contribution to the trail, the project required 15 shop/places of interest markers and 2 information panels for Wolverton Square. Based on selected sites in Wolverton their task was to create a mono print of a shop, a pattern and an emoji style character that represented the shop or place. The most popular site was the old Empire Cinema building now home to MK Furniture Store on Church Street. It was drawn time and time again and children discovered that prior to a cinema it was home to a wooden toy factory. As well as creating artworks the children learnt about the individual shops such as the Ironmongers, Haberdasheries, Grocers, Butchers, Barbers, Connectionist’s, Boot Stores and Drapers which all needed explanation to what they stood for and the items they sold. The children completed a questionnaire about Wolverton’s shops and places of interest and most children either liked the sweet shops or Tesco’s.
McCorquodales, a former printing works and major employer in the area was the inspiration for the typography of the wording on the panels and markers. The children had tremendous fun using old wooden letterhead presses to make up the names of former shops and places of interest. Names like Kitchener Boot Stores, Pedleys (a Barbers), Chowns (A school outfitters), and Swing Park (now known as Victoria Park) were produced to make enchanting headers for the markers and panels.
The children of Bushfield School produced fantastic imagery for the project. Annabelle Shelton orchestrated the final designs for the two panels and markers to be placed in Wolverton Square and other locations referenced to the markers.
As part of the children’s contribution to the trail, the project required 15 shop/places of interest markers and 2 information panels for Wolverton Square. Based on selected sites in Wolverton their task was to create a mono print of a shop, a pattern and an emoji style character that represented the shop or place. The most popular site was the old Empire Cinema building now home to MK Furniture Store on Church Street. It was drawn time and time again and children discovered that prior to a cinema it was home to a wooden toy factory. As well as creating artworks the children learnt about the individual shops such as the Ironmongers, Haberdasheries, Grocers, Butchers, Barbers, Connectionist’s, Boot Stores and Drapers which all needed explanation to what they stood for and the items they sold. The children completed a questionnaire about Wolverton’s shops and places of interest and most children either liked the sweet shops or Tesco’s.
McCorquodales, a former printing works and major employer in the area was the inspiration for the typography of the wording on the panels and markers. The children had tremendous fun using old wooden letterhead presses to make up the names of former shops and places of interest. Names like Kitchener Boot Stores, Pedleys (a Barbers), Chowns (A school outfitters), and Swing Park (now known as Victoria Park) were produced to make enchanting headers for the markers and panels.
The children of Bushfield School produced fantastic imagery for the project. Annabelle Shelton orchestrated the final designs for the two panels and markers to be placed in Wolverton Square and other locations referenced to the markers.
This is the final artwork which was created and will be on display in Wolverton.