Stonyhurst’s prehistoric treasures inspire pupils

26 Feb 2016

A vertebrate from an ichthyosaurus from 200 million years ago, and a prehistoric shark’s jawbone are two of the items children were able to see at Stonyhurst this week. Lucky pupils in year 4 at Stonyhurst’s prep school St Mary’s Hall went across to the College to see some of the oldest artefacts in the school’s famous historic Collections. The curator, Mrs Jan Graffius, also showed them a flipper from a 17m long plesiosaur from 260 million years ago, an enormous back tooth of a woolly mammoth and a large coprolite – or dinosaur poo!

The trip to see the Collections was part of the children’s topic ‘Footsteps from the Past’. A spokesman for St Mary’s Hall said: “The Stonyhurst Collections are a unique and wonderful resource. Being able to see, and handle, these precious artefacts really brings learning to life, and we are so fortunate to have access to them.”

 

Photo: Children from Stonyhurst Mary’s Hall look at a shark’s jawbone.