On Thursday Class 4 was fortunate enough to experience a day of hands on and interactive learning alongside archaeologists and historians who are currently working on the excavation of Gawthorpe Hall in the grounds of Harewood House.
We started the day looking at the tools archaeologists use and techniques they use to decide where the dig should begin.
We found out that Gawthorpe Hall was a medieval manor house. It had a number of owners including the Lascelles family who made money from owning sugar plantations in Barbados and from the slave trade. The family wanted a bigger and grander home to reflect their wealth and had a new house built further up the hill - Harewood House. Gawthorpe Hall was destroyed and Capability Brown, who designed the gardens at Harewood, landscaped over the remains of the house where they have remained hidden until now. We had an informative tour of the site and spent the afternoon sorting artefacts into categories and carefully cleaning them so they could be formally recorded for the dig.
We found pottery, shells, piping and lots of interesting bones including this piece of jaw with teeth. The children were all totally enthralled and inspired by all the activities. The sun shone for us and we had the added excitement of the BBC filming and interviewing us!
Please feel free to come up to class 4 to see all the photos from the trip – and keep an eye on your gardens, Mrs Lockwood and I cannot be responsible for class 4 pupils digging up your flower beds!!!!
We designed our own sandcastles, Bobby dug a moat.
We worked together, digging to build our sandcastles.
We enjoyed some yummy ice lollies.
Charlie buried himself!
Tom found a crab.
We paddled in the sea, and jumped over waves. 
Ruben was on the hunt for some beautiful shells.
Our guides at Harewood were fantastic! They took us into the servants quarters and explained all the different jobs we would have had to have done if we'd been Lord Harewood's servants. The staff at Harewood were impressed with our questions and how much we knew about Victorian times, they also loved our costumes.
Other visitors to the house liked our costumes so much that they stopped to take photographs of us - it was a little bit like being famous! 
After our tour downstairs our guides let us have a sneaky peek at the state rooms above stairs. We were amazed by the difference - it was so colourful and beautifully decorated compared to the rooms downstairs. We even got to see the hidden door to the secret passsageway!
After the tour we took our picnic on the lawn in front of the house. Delicious! We then took a walk in the Victorian terrace and went to explore the ice house.
As a reward for our fantastic behaviour we ended the day on the adventure playground. A big thank you to everyone at Harewood for making our day such a memorable experience!
The girls are ready for their duties in the kitchens.
This smart gentleman found a generous slice of Victoria sponge in his packed lunch! 
It was a little too much for our artful dodger.
Dressed in red, white and blue we took part in lots of fantastic activities organised by Sports Xtra. To keep up our energy levels we had jelly and ice-cream!
In the hall we had a street dance workshop, we impressed the instructors with how quickly we learnt the routines.
The sun came out to warm up the afternoon. Mums and dads were able to enjoy afternoon tea supplied by the PTA.
Although we all dressed in royal colours - some of us went even further! Is this a sneak preview of Kate's dress?
We really enjoyed the crossbows and archery. They were easy to use and lots of fun!
The ladies from the PTA continued to work hard throughout the afternoon.
Class 2 raised a glass to William and Kate.
