A group of Year 10 GCSE History students enjoyed a fantastic day out in Chester on Saturday 16th May as guests of Big Heritage. Big Heritage is an award winning social enterprise that seeks to engage people with the past, and has worked extensively with CCSC in recent years. The trip was to recognise outstanding work by some of our most able and talented History students and to allow them to experience first hand the historic sights of Chester, where Big Heritage is now based.

After driving to Chester and meeting Big Heritage Managing Director, Dean Paton, and Education Officer, Rob Foulkes, the day began with a walk along the ancient city walls and to Chester High Cross in the centre of the city. Dean explained the geographic and strategic significance of Chester and gave a brief overview of the history of the city including the Roman Period, the Civil War Period and the Victorian Era. The group visited the unique Chester Rows along Watergate, Northgate, Eastgate and Bridge Streets and marvelled at the oldest shop front in Britain. Big Heritage gave us behind the scenes access to several modern businesses located on the Rows. We were able to visit the timbered gallery above the Health Food shop, peep out the medieval squint and admire the Roman Medicine symbols painted in the sofa Workshop and hear about the history of the wine trade in a 13th century crypt at Corks Out wine bar. Next we toured St Peter's Church and found out about its rare 'Breeches Bible', admired the stained glass windows and were fascinated by the old styles of writings on grave plaques.

The second part of the day was based at Chester Cathedral. Dean and Rob gave the students a tour of the cathedral and explained some of the key points about the architecture, before challenging the students to locate the 'Chester Imp', a carving designed to scare away the devil. Pupils had chance to explore the intricately carved choir stalls, visit the shrine of St Werburgh and view a unique painting on a cobweb before strolling through the cloisters and into the secluded cathedral garden. Then it was back to the 21st century as pupils added some lego bricks to the scale model of the cathedral which is currently under construction.

Big Heritage had arranged for the group to participate in an exciting 'Cathedral at Height' tour. Guided by cathedral staff we ascended the steep, narrow, winding staircase and stopped at key points for incredible views back down over the cathedral floor. Then it was onwards and upwards to the bell tower with chance to try playing a carillon and learn about the clock mechanisms. Finally after 216 steps the staircase finished right on the roof of the building and a good head for heights was needed as we stepped out onto the roof top walkway. The guide explained the sights of Chester and highlighted the five counties we could see from the highest point in the city. Pupils took the opportunity to get the ultimate selfie in this magnificent setting.

Back at ground level, the group enjoyed lunch in a café which features a Roman hypocaust in the basement. Then it was a short walk to the largest Roman amphitheatre in Britain and Dean explained, with plenty of grisly but fascinating details, how it would have been used. The final historic building on the tour was St John the Baptist Church where the students learnt how to identify different styles of ecclesiastical architecture including Norman and Gothic. They were also intrigued by the rather unusual graves with skeleton carvings.

Later in the afternoon the group explored the Grosvenor Museum, especially the Roman section with its internationally important collection of tombstones. There was plenty of opportunity for interactive learning in the 'Dress up as a Roman' section and before long a 'Roman citizen' (Mr Mackin) was reclining on a couch attended by 'Roman slaves' (Miss Dunne and Mrs Tilt). The social history collections with period rooms and artefacts gave a real insight into life in the more recent past.

To complete the day the Big Heritage staff took us out onto the River Dee for an alternative waterside view of Chester. The students thoroughly enjoyed their boating experience and the crews of the three different boats did get a little competitive. All the students and staff agreed that it had been a brilliant fun and informative day and were very appreciative of Big Heritage providing such a great and memorable experience.

A gallery of photos from the day can be seen below. Please click on an image to enlarge it.

Mr L Mackin

Assistant Head of Humanities