PUPILS from local primary schools joined staff virtually at a Runcorn school last half term to explore the archaeology of Runcorn.

Primary school pupils registered to take part in the lessons provided by Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy and then received a ‘kit pack’ containing all the resources needed for 4 exciting lessons of exploration, investigation and creation.

The first week involved working with Mr McArthur, geography teacher and former archaeologist, to track how Runcorn has changed over the 700,000-year period that humans have been on the British Isles; producing impressive tea-stained timelines on what they learnt.

The whole of the second session was dedicated to exploring the mysterious Iron Age of Runcorn which is really undocumented.

The Cornovii tribe which lived in Cheshire 2500 years ago left little for archaeologists to uncover.

Pupils spent time carefully trying to recreate Iron Age pottery, one of the few things found in this very area!

Mr Crawley, History teacher, led the third week, delving into the history of Halton castle.

This session covered the long span through the ages that Halton castle was used, from a Medieval Castle to a Royalist Stronghold and Civil War Fortress.

Pupils went on to design and build their own cardboard castle.

The final session explored the history and archaeology of Norton Priory.

One of the most excavated monastic sites in Europe right on our doorstep here in Halton!

One of the most iconic features of priories are their beautiful stain glass windows and pupils enjoyed the task of designing and making their own stained-glass window out of card and tissue paper.

Mr McArthur, said: “I have been really impressed with the effort and dedication of the pupils who have taken part in the archaeology club this term. This has been a brand-new initiative and the passion shown by the pupils has been amazing.

‘‘The level of prior knowledge about the topics we covered and the high standard of questions asked really blew me away!’’

The academy hope to be able to run the next phase of our archaeology club face to face.

You can follow the academy’s social media accounts for more information.

Twitter and Instagram @obacademy.