Field Trip Fridays are here, and one of our reasons for home educating the children during this year in the UK. We want to see and experience first hand all of the rich history here in North Umberland and across the UK. The children at our school in the States study history in chronological order. Meg’s 4th grade class is studying the Medieval and Renaissance time periods. I can’t imagine a better place to study the Vikings, great cathedrals, monastic life, the feudal system, William the Conqueror and the like. History comes to life here!

We began right here in our own town of Durham, England. There is so much to see and study in this area I’m not sure that ever one year would be enough time.

There is an effort under way to build a scale model of the Cathedral in Legos. Joshua is in his element here. Joshua and Meg were able to purchase several Legos and add them to the project.

The Cathedral itself dates to its founding in 1093 AD. It is one of the finest examples of Norman architecture. It faces Durham Castle across Palace Green. They are surrounded on three sides by the river Wear (Pronounced with a long e). Both the Castle and the Cathedral have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

This is the center courtyard in the Cathedral.

We were able to go upstairs to the library in the former Monks’ quarters. It was simply amazing! The kids wanted to stay upstairs forever. They longed to pull old books from the shelves and read all day. There was no photography allowed in the library. I will search for some photos on line later and post them.

I know that some of you are having the strange feeling that you’ve seen this place before. Any guesses?

Durham Cathedral was one of the locations of the filming of the Harry Potter movies. Yes, this is the site of Hogwarts. 🙂

This was built to cover pipes for the movie. It is made of fiberglass and is well painted. It is not however standing the test of time as well as the 1,000 year old Cathedral. But, it looks pretty good.

After touring the Cathedral we walked just out the back to St. John’s College where Rob will be studying. The University is divided into colleges. The system is different than in the USA. I am not sure that I could explain it well so I shall not try until I understand it better myself.

We grabbed a small bit of fish and chips for lunch in the Durham Market area.

The market square and area also date back to the Norman times. The indoor market, Market Hall was used as a factory in the 1600’s until it was demolished to make way for the current market hall.

I love this market. I took some photos of the various booths, some of which a very geared towards tourists.

Back outside to the Market Square. This square is a great place of community. On a daily basis there is a kaleidoscope of colours, sounds and food smells wafting across the ancient cobblestones.

There are two statues in the square that I must research a bit. They are curious to me.

Neptune in the Durham Market Square. I have heard a few reasons why he landed here. I’m exploring those and will let you know.

Lord Londonderry statue also in the Market Square. More about him at a later date.

All of you who know me well understand why I had several photos of this statue. It is not about Lord Londonderry but ALL about this magnificent steed. Wow! What a nice horse.

I will leave you with a fun photo that we took during our 19 hours layover in London. We visited the King’s Cross Rail Station and did find…. in fact…..platform 9 3\4.