A Trip to the National Archives - Hurstpierpoint College

A Trip to the National Archives

Lower Sixth Students had a fantastic time visiting the National Archives recently. The trip began with an insight into the origins of the national archives with the death of a now mummified rat, which inspired a determination to preserve our history.

Today, the archives hold over 100 million boxes of records. Excitingly, the students were able to examine the only copies of parliamentary pamphlets, including the Ten Propositions, utilising their understanding from their Civil War course.

The last artefact the pupils saw was a velum scroll covered in calligraphy drawings of mythical beasts, complete with Henry VII in a block of opulent red.  Overall, the trip was a great success, mimicking a career in history at a historian’s laboratory.