Toy fort
Category
Toys
Date
circa 1944
Materials
Plywood and metal
Measurements
480 mm (width); 353 mm (height); 473 mm (depth)
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 663476
Summary
A handmade 'Crusader' fort made c.1944 by the donor's father (John). The fort is made of plywood, probably from old tea chests, and is hand painted. The whole structure dismantles and the fort is built on a hollow base in which all the dismantled components can stored. Surrounding the base are four crenulated walls with four crenulated towers at each corner. The walls are painted a mottled green and black to give the effect of stonework, and the interiors of the towers are painted yellow. The towers contain a number of windows, while the front and back walls have a number of cross-shaped slits. On the interior side of the walls are yellow painted walkways. At the front of the fort are a gatehouse tower and a red drawbridge with a mechanism at the top to allow it to be raised and lowered. Inside the courtyard is a larger central tower with four taller corner towers. All are crenulated and painted the same green/black and yellow of the exterior walls. The central tower has a yellow removable roof, lifted with a loop of string, and an opening red door with a metal knocker and handle. The central tower contains many windows, and the bases of the walls are painted with flowers. The floor of the courtyard is painted in green, black, yellow and red to make cobbled paths and flowerbeds. The fort is in a good condition apart from crenulations missing from the external towers where they have been knocked off.
Provenance
Donated to the Museum of Childhood by Mr Ian Brown in November 2009.