Fyling Hall’s year 7 pupils were able to appreciate the idea of the “historic environment” through a visit to Whitby Abbey and museum this week. In addition to exploring “historic environment” pupils also investigated the role of Primary evidence.

Pupils enjoyed delving into the many levels of Whitby Abbey’s past, from the earliest Anglo-Saxon times to the more recent dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. What happened to the last abbot of Whitby? What can the ruins and the artefacts in the museum tell us about the daily life of the monks and people of Whitby during the Middle Ages? Here are some of our pupils’ comments on their visit:

“I enjoyed the trip because it was really fun and we learned a lot of things. First we looked around the glass cases in the museum, I liked looking at the stone faces in the glass cases. We also walked around the ruins at the abbey and were awed by the massiveness of it. I especially liked the part where we walked around trying to figure out what it would have looked like at the time of the monks.”

“We learned many things including monks prayed eight times a day!”

“Henry VIII sent spies out to see how big the Abbey was and to see how much land it had so he could sell it off, so he could have more money.”

“I enjoyed the ruins of Whitby Abbey because it felt so spacious and the architecture was better than what I would call amazing!”

“I enjoyed finding out new facts things I didn’t know. It helped me to learn things and I had a big amount of fun!”

“The trip was good for our knowledge, I liked all the interesting pieces of evidence in the museum. It wasn’t just an educational trip it was our first trip and it makes us feel more together.”