Waddell Cottage has stood for well over a century, and it turns out its floorboards had a story still left to tell.
During ongoing restoration work, fragments of glass and other materials dating to the late 1800s were discovered beneath the cottage’s original floor, prompting a supervised archaeological excavation to properly investigate the site. It’s the kind of find that often gets handled quietly by specialists alone, but this time, the project took a different path.
Year 8 and Year 9 students were brought in to take part directly, working alongside professional archaeologists Fiona and Emily across the excavation. The students were introduced to core archaeological methods, including stratigraphy and the careful, deliberate trowelling required on a heritage site, before getting hands-on experience inside the cottage itself.
The history lesson didn’t stop at technique. Many students took a particular interest in how archaeologists determine an object’s age and how the layers beneath a structure can be read to piece together its past. Viewing the artefacts already recovered from the site gave that interest somewhere to land, connecting the dig to the broader story of the cottage and its place in the area’s history.
That connection is set to continue well beyond the excavation. When restoration work is finished, the participating students will help share Waddell Cottage’s story with the wider community, taking an active role in Open Days and other events built around the site’s history.
The school has thanked the archaeology team and restoration specialists for the experience, describing it as both a valuable educational opportunity and a meaningful contribution to preserving an important piece of local heritage.
