The sun (finally) shone on the day the History department organised and led a successful joint GCSE and A Level trip to Burghley House in March.

We even managed a lovely picnic lunch on the lawn in the shadow of the magnificence created by William Cecil to attract Elizabeth I to come and stay at his newly built manor although our tour revealed that Elizabeth I never made it due to a smallpox outbreak. Cecil though remained her favourite and most trusted councillor until his death. However, Queen Victoria did visit on multiple occasions and Year 12 and 13 students enjoyed a segue learning about how her bedroom was adapted to wow a queen.

We all enjoyed a tour of the house and learned lots about the life of the Cecil family as well as gain an opportunity to study art and appreciate its importance before engaging with taught sessions on how learning the history of Cecil is to learn the history of the Tudors.

We finished the day with a self-guided tour of the beautiful garden of surprises bursting into Spring life.