Beths
Grammar
School

Fishbourne Roman Palace Trip

On Tuesday, 7th March, the Year 8 and 9 Latin classes travelled to Chichester to visit the Fishbourne Roman Palace. Upon arrival, students watched a short introductory video, explaining the miracle of how Fishbourne Palace was discovered and excavated by amateur archaeologists in the 1960s, the excellent quality of preservation of its mosaics and the unique and prestigious situation of the Celtic client king turned Roman citizen who presided there, King Togidubnus. Fishbourne Palace was bigger than Buckingham Palace with two gardens each larger than two football pitches- a truly great feat and demonstration of Roman style and pizzazz! This was followed by a workshop entitled ‘Military Matters’ where students had the chance to practice some archaeological deductions and explore the relationship between the Britons and Romans in the context of the Roman army. The students tried on various pieces of armour and marvelled as how well adapted it was for fighting any kind of enemy and how heavy it was. After lunch, students explored the museum, remains of the palace and reconstructed Roman gardens, applying knowledge learnt in class to the real-life site. Overall, it was a great visit and enjoyed by all.”