Term 3 Week 1

We have decided to carry on our Vikings topic for a couple of weeks this term so that we can have an Up - Helly - AA Viking feast.  

This week we looked at Viking runes and thought about how the Vikings used them to communicate messages and stories to each other.  We worked out how to write our own names in runes.  

We used peedie matchsticks to spell out our names on cardboard. 

We are putting the finishing touches to our name plaques which you can see at our Viking feast! 

We have also been looking at Viking jewellery this week.  We noticed that a lot of Viking jewellery has great detail on it.  The fancier the jewellery...the richer the Viking!

We have been designing our own jewellery for the Viking feast.  

We were very lucky this week to take a trip into Kirkwall to meet up with Sandra from Historic Scotland.  The weather was a bit wet so we made sure we wrapped up well!  

We met at the Shapinsay pier where Sandra started by telling us about the history of Harbour Street.

We looked the the various different shapes of buildings along the harbour front and Sandra told us why they were built in certain ways. We saw the corn slip where the Vikings would have taken in boats.

We moved further along the street looking at Shore Street and then onto Bridge Street.  We saw the building where people would have been tricked to signing up to the navy!

When we walked further up the street we kept an eye out for bits of sandstone which had been shipped in to build the St Magnus Cathedral.  We stopped at Ivy house and realised that we would actually have been walking on a beach in the Viking era!!

We saw the old prison and some very fancy looking architecture as we walked up the street.  When we stopped at Castle Street we saw the only remaining part of the old Kirkwall Castle...a tiny plaque on the wall above the TSB.

Finally we reached the St Magnus Cathedral!  We were very excited to find out about the history of the Cathedral and St Magnus.  We observed the beautiful sandstone and the gargoyles (who seem to be gossiping if you look closely!!) before heading inside the Cathedral. 

Once inside the Cathedral we met the custodian, Fran, who told us all about the shape of the Cathedral and how it came to be built.

We looked in detail at the lovely stained glass window at the front of the Cathedral and discussed the various pictures shown on it. 

When we walked further into the Cathedral we were shown various marks on the sandstone which was from the tradesman.  This ensured they got paid for each block the carved.  We also saw perhaps the most valuable artefact in the Cathedral, a board hanging high on a pillar which shows a grave stone on it. 

At the back of the Cathedral we settled down to enjoy a story about St Magnus.  We were told all about his life and his sneaky cousin Haakon. We learnt all about Rognvald who decided to build a Cathedral in honour of St Magnus. 

We then saw something very exciting...

The place where St Magnus' bones are burried.  If you look really closely on the sandstone you can see a tiny cross which shows the place his bones are hidden.

Even though the weather wasn't perfect, we really enjoyed our Viking walk and we thank Sandra and Fran very much for giving us their time today.