There’s something very scary about a big blank page in the centre of the table. And something very odd, I am sure, about being asked to design a medieval village in your half term holiday. I’m glad to report that the young people at Rye Youth Zone took it in their stride.
We began by discussing what nearby town Old Winchelsea (currently underwater and near Camber Sands) might have been like in 1287, and our world building exercises were fuelled by research on medieval manuscripts and the lives of peasants. The young people had heard of Winchelsea and driven through it on the way to Hastings, but did not know about Old Winchelsea and how it had been destroyed by a sea storm in 1287.
Once the map of the town began to fill with post-it notes of things we know existed in the real Old Winchelsea back in 1287 – a port, an astounding number of pubs to people – there was an opportunity to draw out the characters and the stories of the place, and once we started speculating these creative young minds couldn’t be held back! A priest who’s declared himself Pope, a holiday castle for the king, a witch with an army of sheep, both land and water dragons and the ominous presence of the sea and its storms. A series of diary entries and comic strips were created detailing the lives of their new characters.
In our second session, we brought Old Winchelsea into 2026, imagining that this underwater town was still thriving, how would it function? How medieval would it be? Our participants adapted the town in brilliantly imaginative ways – we had housing equality, a currency of shells, dolphin pop bands, water filtration systems and a controversial waste disposal system which involved rockets and the moon. The young people wrote postcards to themselves in Rye detailing this underwater world, began editing the local “Flying Fish News” and created objects to be found in Old Winchelsea’s museum.
The group contained the full scope of the ages that the Youth Zone caters for, 10-17 year olds. It was very impressive how everyone listened to each other’s ideas, with the older writers noting down details on the map as well as creating independent work. Every person who dropped in to any part of the session created a character and contributed something to the map of the town, and all our evaluation forms ask for more workshops like this to happen again at the youth club.
It’s a great testament to the adaptability of the Youth Zone. With a chance to draw and write in the upstairs room, we were able to create a quiet space for people to drop in and out of, to take a break from the business of the rest of the youth club, and an opportunity for the writers to build their confidence by giving tours of the world they had made.
The workshops were facilitated by StrongBack Productions’ producer Sally Wood, and poet Laila Sumpton and supported by Arts Council England.
Image Credits: Sally Wood .