Brass rubbing can be both meditative and a great way to learn history for both children and adults which involves making an image of a historical figure, using special paper and waxes.
As part of Lichfield Historic Parks project, Lichfield District Council is proud to launch the Swinfen Broun Trail. The trail leads children and their families through Beacon Park and across to Minster Pool, following a map to find eight brass rubbings, and solving missions and challenges along the way.
Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund, the trail features a cartoon figure of Colonel Swinfen Broun, who gifted 12 acres of land to extend Beacon Park towards the end of his life in 1943.
The Colonel sets eight challenges throughout the trail, including a word search, anagrams, finding crowns and a castle turret on Martyrs’ Plaque, and spotting a selection of animals on the fountain in Museum Gardens.
The eight brass plaques for the brass rubbings have been created to explain the history of Beacon Park and Minster Pool. This includes finding out where Beacon Place’s underground ice house was, discovering the origins of Martyrs’ Plaque in the park’s Herbaceous Garden, and learning about the pilgrims who crossed a much larger Minster Pool by ferry in the olden days to get to the cathedral.
The Swinfen Broun Trail is available to buy for 50p from the Ranger Station Beacon Park, which is next to the crazy golf course.
A great challenge for famillies to learn more about the history of Beacon Park in a fun way.
Now where did I put those crayons?
In the photograph is young Henry Epstein age 5 enjoying the trail.
