St Bede Archaeology Day

Two pupils from St. Bede School made an astonishing discovery within the precincts of Hyde Abbey as part of a project to turn the historic site into a learning resource for Year 5 pupils.

While inspecting the boundary wall of Adam Architecture (constructed entirely of materials sourced from the nearby Abbey) the boys identified a medieval mason’s mark inscribed into a stone. Mason’s marks were applied by the mason on stones they had carved, and were used as a method of calculating the payment due. The find was endorsed for its authenticity by architectural historian Dr. John Crook from Winchester Cathedral.

The mason’s mark ‘break-through’ gave a good start to the school’s first ever Archaeology Day when a team from Hyde900 supported by members of WARG introduced 90 children from Year 5 to the history and lay-out of the Abbey and then provided the opportunity for the children to hone their research skills in sorting out archaeological finds provided by the Winchester Museum Service.

With funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and additional financial assistance from Winchester City Council and local estate agency Belgarum, Hyde900 is currently embarked on a wide range of new initiatives to interpret the site of the Abbey. This includes a major educational project to enable schools to learn more about the story of Hyde Abbey and King Alfred the Great whose bones are believed to still remain buried somewhere on the site.

The area of Hyde Abbey offers a tremendous resource to enable children to investigate the medieval heritage of Hyde and fits with Key Stages 1 and 2 of the National Curriculum, providing a great opportunity for children to develop new insights, knowledge and vocabulary.  The children also had fun designing new ‘habits for the monks reflecting a real controversy in the middle ages over what kind of attire was suitable for the monastery.

In the course of a packed day of activity every child took part in a guided tour of the site and had the opportunity to identify architecturally interesting stones which had been recycled from the original Abbey building. 

There was also the opportunity to take ‘stone rubbings’ and to participate in a workshop with local artist Kate Arnold to make ‘encaustic’ tiles similar to those which would have been found on the floor of the Abbey. Having completed the day’s programme they were then each awarded a certificate by Hyde900.