Anglo Saxon Adventure at Canterbury Cathedral - Friday 22 January 2016

On Friday 22nd January 2016 Years 4,5 and 6 went to Canterbury Cathedral to take part in an Anglo-Saxon themed day.  We had a bit of an adventure before we even got there as our bus got stuck in the mud!  

Eventually we arrived and battled through the wind and rain to get to the education centre where we divided ourselves into three groups.

Group 1 went to the activity room where we made stained glass windows, Canterbury crosses, built wooden arches, made up a Cathedral 3d jigsaw puzzle, tried out a pulley system and even carved our  mark into a block of stone with a mallet and chisel like a real stonemason! (Don't worry, we had safety goggles on!).

Group 2 got dressed up in Anglo-Saxon clothing and went on a tour of the Cathedral looking at the Anglo Saxon elements and learning about Alphege, St. Augustine and the beginnings of the Cathedral. It was a long time ago!

Group 3 went to the archives of the Cathedral and were shown some real artefacts from Anglo-Saxon times.  We saw a  replica of a unique time-telling device which had been found by archaeologists in the grounds of the Cathedral and which dates back to about 600 AD.

We also listened to some old English being read out - we could hear some words which we have in our language today but could see and were amazed by how much our language has changed over the last one and half thousand years.

We had great fun and learnt lots about Anglo Saxon times at the Cathedral!