Year 8 Visit to Aldborough Roman Site

As part of the Year 8 Latin and History curriculum pupils have been investigating the Romans in Britain. Last Monday they attended a field trip to Aldborough Roman Site where they were able to apply some of their theoretical knowledge into practical discovery.  

The once prosperous site of Aldborough was strategically founded on the Roman road network and cemented the town as a vital hub of communication, administration and trade. It led the path north from York (Eboracum) to Corbridge (Coria) on Hadrian’s Wall. At its height, the town housed between 3,000 – 5,000 people, with a wealth of houses, baths and mosaics.  

Alice and Josephine loved the site which was kindly opened by English Heritage exclusively for the trip. Whilst they particularly relished the tree hugging exercise, Ruby and Lily enjoyed writing on the wax tablets. Lily found the amphorae fascinating and was amazed by the weird shapes. She described them as both unusual and beautiful. Some girls learnt that they had closer links to Aldborough; Josephine discovered that her ancestor (possibly!) bought Aldborough Roman site and was the first to start excavations there two hundred years ago. Emilia shared that her great aunt lives in the village and has a Roman mosaic in her kitchen.

Emma and Amelie were amazed by the mosaics, especially the one of the lion and Minnie thought it was a fascinating day and she learnt lots about the site and the Romans.“When we finally got there, we went inside and got spilt into two groups. My group went outside while the other had a look around the Museum. As we started looking around the ancient site, we came across a 200-year-old tree. Alice said this was her favourite part of the whole trip. Our guide took us to see an incomplete mosaic which a good lot of tiles had been taken as mementoes. We also had a look at a complete mosaic of a star which was very beautiful.” – Minnie 

Inside the museum the pupils were shown replicas of ancient artefacts, including brooches, hair pins and an interesting looking vase called an amphora. The excursion concluded with the girls creating their own mosaics using a selection of colourful tiles. Finished designs included a panda by Alexia and Betsy, a beach scene by Lily and Peggy, a house by Sofia and Ruby and a dancing man by Emma and Josephine which won the ‘best mosaic’ competition. 

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