From Woolly Mammoths to Medieval Manuscripts: How Stonyhurst Pupils Are Learning History First-Hand
Pupils an education establishment in Lancashire are making the most of having access to more than 70,000 objects from their school’s museum to help them with their studies.
Stonyhurst has one of the oldest museum collections in the English-speaking world, according to bosses, which they say means they can offer a curriculum like no other.
Three-year-olds can hold a fossilised woolly mammoth tooth, while sixth form students can curate their own exhibitions using original artefacts.
Spanning centuries and continents, the collections comprise about 100,000 books and tens of thousands of manuscripts and artefacts.
The offers pupils rare, hands-on opportunities to explore history, science, art and literature without even having to leave the campus near Clitheroe.
Leaders say Stonyhurst is rooted in the Jesuit religious tradition.
Dr Jan Graffius, curator of the Stonyhurst collections, said faith and history were woven into pupils’ daily education.
“The Jesuits have always recognised that objects have the power to illuminate and inspire. The whole point of a Jesuit education is to observe, absorb and learn.”
From the age of three, pupils take part in hands-on lessons in the museum, enabling them to explore history, science, art and literature through objects that bring abstract ideas vividly to life.
Recent displays, such as Womanuscripts, curated by pupils, have explored women’s roles in history through letters, recipes and theological manuscripts.
Other local schools are also able to share in the experience, with visiting pupils given the same opportunity to engage with objects and develop learn through interaction with historic objects.
Stonyhurst was founded in 1593 and is a co-educational Catholic boarding and day school for pupils aged 3-18.
It is the oldest continuously active Jesuit school in the world, and has a 700-strong student body comprising 600 pupils at Stonyhurst College and 100 pupils at its preparatory school.
Boarding is available from the age of seven, and the school is located on a 1,000 acre rural estate near Clitheroe in Lancashire.
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