Year 5 were treated to a visit from the South Downs Meon Valley Sustainability Centre on Thursday of last week. The centre provided a special ‘Saxon Experience’ day where we engaged in a hands on up close look at Saxon life.

It began with a show and tell of replica artefacts of the period which focused on the domestic history and the crafts of the Saxons. Items ranging from leather pouches, chain mail and even ear scoops ! were handed round for all to investigate.
Carrying on the hands on activities we looked at how pottery is identified from archaeological sites and were given the challenge of sorting through some trenches; investigating how many pots were in each.
We were then give the challenge of making our own piece of pottery using only our hands and the decorating tools of the Saxons.
Then onto wool carding, spinning and herb grinding. Pulling, teasing and brushing the wool we removed the knots ready to hand spin the wool. We also learnt about the importance of herbs and there uses not only in flavouring but for medicinal purposes. We all used the pestal and mortars to grind and create our own Saxon remedies.
What a fabulous experience we all had which truly did bring the Saxons to life.
14th March 2019
Category: Whole School