After a good journey down to Dorchester, we had our lunch at the Corn Exchange where we met our tutor Simon. We then walked to the Roman Townhouse that was discovered when they were building the Council offices in Dorchester. The townhouse has some beautiful mosaics, an example of a Roman window and underfloor heating - hypocaust, which was demonstrated by Albie R. Following this, we got back on the bus and went to Maiden Castle - one of the largest and most complex Iron Age hillforts in Europe – it's the size of 50 football pitches. Its huge multiple ramparts, mostly built in the 1st century BC, once protected hundreds of residents. When it was first built, the gleaming white chalk ramparts would have towered over the surrounding landscape - we walked to the top and saw amazing views of Dorchester; imagine what it would have been like to live at the top of this hillfort during winter - slightly chilly to say the least. The children were set the challenge of storming the ramparts - trying to reach the adults who thought they were safe at the top - but alas, we were overwhelmed by their tactics!
The children were all very excited to see where we would be staying at Hooke Court and after settling in and sorting out bedding, we had a play outside and went to dinner - everyone tucked in to pasta tea followed by ice cream. After this, we went to the roundhouse and explored what life would have been like as a Roman Soldier - I can testify that the armour was heavy - Roman Soldiers were certainly tough and resilient. At the end of a busy day, the children all settled down to sleep - our first day at Hooke Court was already done - the time had just flown by.
