This old tale seems to reflect a transition from Pagan beliefs to Christianity. Building a church by the lakeside yew tree, a Pagan sacred site, seems to have proved impossible with the devil demolishing all the villagers efforts overnight. Then the Pagan ceremony to reclaim the bells from the lake was thwarted by someone cursing god and the devil.
The Church, as you can see, stands now on the hill and there was one bell missing in the tower until the Millennium when a new bell was commissioned.
Key Stage 3 Pupils tell the tale…
How this film was made
This video is one of 10 made as part of a two-day event in ‘Arts Week’ July 2012.
A mixed class of Year 7/8 pupils spent the first day with a professional storyteller, enjoying an introductory basic storytelling skills workshop in the morning and worked in small groups on their chosen story in the afternoon. On the second day older pupils directed the filming on location and led on the editing back at school.
If your school does not have the budget to bring in a professional storyteller, you can put together your own basic storytelling skills workshop using some of the ideas in our on-line series ‘A Storytelling Club in your School’. We would suggest you include activities from:
Week Three – Sensations,
Week Five – Repetition and Sequencing,
Week Six – Characterization,
Week Eight – Composition (developing Firework moments),
Week Eleven – Gestures.
Part of Wordscape North Shropshire, a “Young Roots” project funded by
