Remnants of Roman history can be found across the Brampton area, but students at the town’s secondary school have been finding out about the history directly beneath their feet.

During half term, year seven students at William Howard School - who had just recently completed a module looking at the history of Brampton - worked with archaeologists to try and uncover the locations of Roman artefacts that were discovered in the 1960s.

In the early 1960s when the astroturf was being constructed, Roman tile kilns were discovered, recorded and re-buried.

Juliet Giecco, the member of staff who oversaw the archaeological survey, said: “We found some of the tile kilns that were found in the 60s. Some of them had been totally flattened when they got rid of the hill and then we found a possible two or three that haven’t been found before.

“The results can be interesting, but the actual process of getting them can be quite lengthy, it’s quite tiring.”

Six students from year seven got involved in the half-term event which saw them carrying large pieces of machinery and getting to grips with archaeology.

The pupils worked with staff from local organisations Grampus Heritage and Wardell Armstrong Archaeology to complete the magnetometry and resistivity surveys, in an attempt to locate the kilns and other artefacts.

It was a practical way for students to get experience in exploring history outside of the typical classroom environment.

“A few years ago we took some of the students to the cricket club excavations and some of them were really interested in archaeology,” said Mrs Giecco.

“I thought it was something that I wanted to carry on to give them a bit more of an experience and a chance to get involved.

“A lot of them are interested in history: they have just done the history of Brampton and it’s something other than sitting in a classroom getting taught.”

The tile kilns found in Brampton are just part of a rich tapestry of local history that often flies under the radar when it comes to history classes.

However, this history is one of the first things the pupils at William Howard are taught when they join the school.

In the Brampton history module, students learn about William Howard, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s stay in the town, and Brampton’s motte-and-bailey castle.

“It’s something they haven’t really learned about before, obviously they do Roman and they do the American Civil War but they haven’t really had a local history module,” said Mrs Giecco.

“A lot of them don’t come from Brampton, they come from other schools in Carlisle.”

It is hoped that any future surveys will be open to other pupils.