Get medieval at Cosmeston this Spring!
Learn about how ordinary people lived and worked in a real fourteenth century village
07/03/2010
Village Life at Cosmestion, courtesy of Vale of Glamorgan Tourism
A new course entitled Cosmeston: the life of a medieval village will start on Wednesday 14th April. This ten week part-time evening course is a collaboration between the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Cardiff University. It will examine the archaeology and history of this unique reconstructed medieval site near Cardiff. Students will explore how medieval peasants lived through a combination of informal lectures, fieldwalking and interactive archaeology workshops. All of the classes will be delivered on site at the medieval village.
The School of History and Archaeology at Cardiff has, for some years, been involved in a community archaeology project at Cosmeston. The project has carried out a range of practical archaeological investigations and activities, including landscape survey, excavation and finds processing, in which the public have been practically involved and ‘hands on’ with history. Dr David Wyatt, a lecturer in medieval history and co-ordinator of the School’s community engagement activities. commented:
“This is real history and archaeology in action! Cosmeston: the life of a medieval village is an amazing opportunity for people to find out about how ordinary medieval people, lived, worked and died. The lucky people who take this course will be learning on the site of an actual fourteenth century village with reconstructed houses, artifacts and rare breed livestock! The course will be taught by Nick Coles who manages the village and was involved in the excavation and reconstruction of the site. No one knows Cosmeston and its past better than Nick!”
During the development of Cosmeston Lakes Country Park in 1978, excavations uncovered the remains of a community over 600 years old, and so began a unique archaeological project to restore the village of Cosmeston.
Archaeologists and the Vale of Glamorgan Council have since worked together to reconstruct an authentic, entertaining view of life in a Medieval village.
The reconstructed village has been set in the year 1350. It was a fascinating time in history - King Edward III ruled a land at war with the conflict with France (the Hundred Years War) in its twelfth year, while Britain was slowly recovering from the Black Death of 1348, which killed almost half the population.
This is just one of many courses starting this April at Cardiff University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning. Courses such as Business Studies, Creative Writing, Languages, Music, Science and Social Studies are available. Learning is a good way of enhancing your C.V., making new friends and keeping your mind active. Come along and learn something new this spring.
To enrol on this course or for details about the many other courses starting this April contact Cardiff University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning on 029 2087 0000 or visit www.cardiff.ac.uk/learn for more information.