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| Dundarn Castle in Hamilton |
On a day trip to Hamilton, we checked out a few of the
museums/historic sites that the place had to offer. It was during “Doors Open”
when we went there which meant we did not have to pay the $30 family admission
fee. Yay! Free is good J…and
it really was good. We learned a lot touring the sites and the girls found it
interesting, too!
We started with the War gallery beside the gift shop. It was
pretty much a room with some cool artifacts from the First World War. There, we
also found the Remembrance Day garden where there were poppies painted on
stones by students to remember the fallen soldiers, alongside info and the
poem, In Flanders Fields.
We then explored the Dundurn Castle. This 40-room villa from
the 1830’s was once the site of a military encampment of the British in 1813.
It was the home of Sir Allan MacNab and his family who was a railway magnate, a
lawyer and the Premier of the United Canadas in the 1850’s. Costumed staff were
available all throughout the house giving information and available for
questions. The house was just magnificent, quite reflective of the affluence of
the time. The basement was entirely for the servants and there were bells for
the family to communicate to them. They had gas lights when most folks used
candles, a machine to clean and polish cutlery, and a whole dining hall amidst
the cellar and pantry. They even had a microbrewery for the servants to drink
beer as apparently they drank beer instead of water as it was not purified.
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| Storage room @ Dundarn Castle, Hamilton |
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| Wine Cellar @ Dundarn Castle, Hamilton |
In the main floor, the butler had his own room and pantry.
In this floor we also saw the library, smoking and game room, dining room and
drawing room. In the 2nd floor, the bedrooms had separate sitting
and dressing rooms. Each room in the house had a fireplace as well. It was not
hard to imagine how grand it used to be.
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| Room of Sir Allan MacNab @ Dundarn Castle, Hamilton |
We went to the Military Museum next where we checked out the
exhibit of the War of 1812 featuring recovered artifacts and even original
uniforms.
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| Miltary Museum in Hamilton |
We also had a chance to dress up using some costumes available. In
the second floor, we saw a video and some images from the Hamilton and Scourge
shipwreck sites—the only two complete 1812 warships in the world and still
intact under Lake Ontario! This place was more kid-friendly since apart from
the dress up station, there was a play area in the 2nd floor where
there was a campsite, giant checkers and blocks.
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| Children's playarea in the Military Museum, Hamilton |
Before we left, we took a peek at the Cockpit Theatre
(closed at the time and currently used for theatre performances and private
events) initially a pavilion used for cockfighting.
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| The Cockpit, Hamilton |
We also walked through the
Kitchen Garden which provided nutritious veggies for the main house.
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| Kitchen Garden complete with costumed staff, Hamilton |
It was a very interesting history lesson for us and it was
great that these sites were preserved and restored to share with future
generations. If you are a tourist or had no background on Canadian history, you
will still be able to appreciate these sites.
