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T R I P S A N D V I S I T S
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OnWednesday 26 July, all L4 students studying Latin visited the
Verulamium Museum in St Albans. Built on the site of one of the
largest Roman cities in Britain, the museum is filled with ancient
treasures and provided us with a vivid insight into Roman life
and culture.The day comprised of numerous activities within the
museum’s site, supporting our studies of the historical aspect of
our Latin curriculum.
One very enjoyable part of the day was touring the museum,
where we found out information and saw ancient artefacts used
during this era covering many parts of Roman life, ranging from
authentic building tools to skeletons of wealthy individuals in their
elaborate tombs.The tour also explained more of the history
of this empire in Britain: we learnt about the factors that were
crucial to the success of the empire (such as the structured
system of
client kings
) as well as the factors ultimately leading to its
dissolution (such as the destructive revolt led by Boudicca.)
We participated in an engaging workshop in which we were
given the opportunity to touch and look at some artefacts from
thousands of years ago during the Roman Britain period. Like the
tour of the museum itself, the workshop contained artefacts from
various aspects of Roman life, namely: cooking, building, hygiene
and storage methods. We were encouraged to think of what
these unfamiliar looking artefacts were, a task which proved
challenging at first; however, with the guidance of the workshop
leader, we soon became accustomed to asking ourselves the
questions archaeologists ask themselves and it was remarkable
what we could conclude from just a few ancient artefacts with
some cracks in them.
L4
th
Latin Trip to St Albans
Nimran Dhaliwal U4S
Mr Luke Brennand, Head of History
At the end of the summer term,
the Thirds visited not one but two
castles during a day out with the
History Department.
Most of year group enjoyed sunshine and
views across the English Channel to France
as they explored the history of Dover
Castle as planned. Around one third of
the year group, however, ended up visiting
Leeds Castle after their coach broke
down in Epping Forest soon after leaving
school.The delay, caused by the need for
a replacement vehicle to arrive on the
scene, meant that Dover Castle was too
far to be properly experience so, instead,
picturesque Leeds Castle was chosen as
a new destination. Although these pupils
missed out on seeing theWhite Cliffs and
exploring the medieval tunnels beneath
Dover Castle, they did get the chance to
watch a falconry display and find their
way out of a tricky hedge maze in the
gardens of Leeds Castle. Despite Leeds
Castle being beautiful, hopefully next year
everyone will make as far as Dover!
Thirds’ Castle Trip
After lunch in the fields of the Verulamium Park, upon which
the prosperous city used to be situated, we visited the
hypocaust
,
- an ancient underfloor heating system that was a huge
improvement to Roman engineering and an excellent example
of the first indoor heating systems installed in Britain.The intricacy
of the numerous small cubes of tiles (or
tesserae
) surprised us -
it was incredible what beautiful pieces of art the Romans
managed to make without the help of modern technology.
To finish the day, we visited the Roman Theatre of
Verulamium, a unique Roman theatre that was excavated first
in the 19th century and again in the 1930s, with raised seating,
upon which spectators would have intently watched performances
at events such as religious festivals, armed combat shows
and wild beast shows.
The day was not only enjoyable but also exceedingly
informative and it vastly broadened our knowledge of the
Roman Empire which thrived in Britain until 410 AD. I would
like to thank all the teachers involved in the trip for what
was such an insightful day for everyone