On Wednesday 10th July, The Classics Department led 70 Year 8 students down the hill (and back up again) to visit the fascinating Roman site of Aquae Sulis to discover more about Roman bathing and solve their very own murder mystery!

For breaking news has just come in that the soothsayer, Lucius Marcius Memor, has been murdered and each group needed to gather as much archaeological evidence as possible to deliver a five-minute sketch back at school to explain who killed Memor, with what, wherein the baths and why? Furthermore, being a soothsayer, why in heaven did he not foresee his murder?!

Year 8 threw themselves into the activity with considerable enthusiasm and entertained us with many a twist and turn in their plots, which would rival any Agatha Christie! They were able to handle artefacts from two thousand years ago to help find out more about the ancient world and which helped inspire them to deliver such creative and imaginative stories.

In the words of some Year 8 students: “It was great to visit the Baths which I’ve walked past so often – they’re amazing!” “I learned that the Romans threw curse tablets into the Sacred Spring” “The water tasted just like they said in the Roman Mysteries!”

Huge thanks to the staff for accompanying Miss James and Dr McCarthy on the trip: Dr Nobbs, Sr Roca, Mdme Daguenet and Mrs Pocock who were all invaluable.

by Miss James