School pupils explore 10,000 years of human settlement in Mountsandel Woods

School pupils from across the Causeway Coast and Glens have taken part in the Mountsandel Field School Project.

Organised by Causeway Coast and Glens Museum Services and in partnership with, Mountsandel Discovery and Heritage Group, The Rotary Club of Coleraine, and Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, the week of visits to Mountsandel Wood demonstrated the importance of the site’s local history and heritage.

Each day included exciting workshops and activities designed to bring Mountsandel’s pre-historic past back to life. Mountsandel is the site of the earliest known settlement on the island of Ireland, dating back almost 10,000 years. It was occupied by Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) people who lived by hunting and gathering along the Bann and in the surrounding woods.

Key Stage 2 pupils took part in four interactive activities at stations throughout the wood, engaging with the settlement site itself with Grace McAllister of the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust, handling original stone tools with Museum Services officer Nic Wright, as well foraging in the woods and playing hunting games with facilitators Aubrey Beggs and Jim Allen. Groups were also joined by post-primary History student teachers from the School of Education, Ulster University, for part of the week.

This year, the schools taking part in the programme were Bushvalley Primary School, Damhead Primary School, The Irish Society Primary School, St Malachy’s Primary School Coleraine, St Patrick’s Primary School Portrush, Dunsevereick Primary School, St Peter’s and St Paul’s Primary School Foreglen, St Canice’s Primary School Feeny, Rasharkin Primary School and Armoy Primary School.

Mayor of the Causeway Coast and Glens, Councillor Steven Callaghan, who visited the site during the week said: “It’s wonderful to see such a historic site in our borough being enjoyed and shared by so many children from across the area during this week of activity. Thanks are due to all those who helped organise this fantastic programme, and especially to those who volunteered their time marshal at these events.”