Stone Age to Iron Age school trips

Experience the ancient past from the Stone Age to the Iron Age brought to life with hands-on school trips in the Hampshire countryside! Guided by a dedicated member of our award-winning education team, on our all-inclusive trips you’ll explore our reconstructed Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age buildings, and get hands-on with guided archaeology and crafts workshops, ancient experiences, and more!

Our immersive school trips directly support the National Curriculum and use practical, enquiry-based learning to promote creativity, independence, and teamwork. Suitable for KS1, KS2, KS3, and KS4 learners!

Your Stone Age to Iron Age trip

  • Discover the ancient past and step into our reconstructed buildings

  • Get an expert guide for your day with a dedicated member of our education team

  • Hear all about the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages with an introductory talk

  • Get hands-on with four half-hour workshops of your choice, from digging up artefacts to learning to light a campfire

  • Practice maths and independence with a visit to our pocket money gift shop (subject to availability)

Prices from £12.65 +VAT per student. See all pricing info 🡒

 Stone Age to Iron Age school workshops

Bring the past to life with four hands-on workshops — all included in your trip’s price. Each workshop is led by a member of our education team and lasts approx. 30 minutes.

Choose one Archaeology workshop, one Creative workshop, one Teambuilding workshop or Experience, and one workshop from any group.

 
Archaeology

  • Experience field archaeology with our hands-on demonstration archaeological pits. You’ll learn basic excavation methods and have a chance to excavate for finds, uncovering hidden objects and using deduction to place your discoveries in an archaeological context.

  • Discover the past through objects with a range of Stone Age items representing a diversity of materials and manufacturing techniques. You’ll handle items and discuss as a group how they were made and used, and why they were important to people.

  • Discover how archaeologists make sense of their findings! Work as a team to decipher a real excavation plan, complete with artefacts and coordinates, and use logic and communication to build up a picture of life in the past.

    Recommended for older students (Years 5+)

Creative

  • Discover ancient rock art and make your own! Use a flint tool and foraged resources to carve and colour ancient designs into a piece of chalk. You’ll learn about ancient beliefs, art, and symbolism, as well as local geology and safe use of natural materials to explore creativity.

  • Learn ropemaking, one of the most vital ancient crafts, used to build houses and haul sarsen stones. You’ll work with natural fibres to create your own strong piece of cord — a bracelet, bookmark, or keyring — and learn about the valuable properties of everyday materials in nature all around us.

  • Create your own ancient-inspired jewellery! You’ll learn all about the importance of jewellery as a status symbol in the ancient world, how it was made, and why it was worn, before using metal wire and pliers to create your own to take home.

  • Get hands-on preparing and using materials from the ground to design, create, and decorate a piece of pottery. You’ll learn about local geology and where clay comes from, and about the importance of pottery in human development, vital for storage, transport, and cooking, as well as in early human art.

    Available April to October

  • Learn all about textiles and early clothes production! You’ll see how to turn raw fleece from our rare sheep into workable fibres, and practice hand-eye coordination with a drop spindle to create your own small piece of yarn.

 
Teambuilding

  • Learn how to make prehistoric concrete and help us construct a section of wall! Work as a team to make clunch from scratch, and discover how local geology and natural materials can create a strong and durable building material used for thousands of years.

    Available April to October

  • Discover the mysteries of fire! Crucial for cooking, warmth, and metalworking, learning to harness fire was one of early humanity’s greatest achievements. You’ll discover how to safely create a flame, and work in teams to produce your own.

  • Master a building block of ancient construction! Work as a team and learn to use hazel rods to weave a wooden fence. You’ll discover the properties of different woods and the ways ancient people worked sustainably with their environment.

Experiences

  • How did our ancestors keep warm without modern heating? Work as a team to experiment with our store of historic clothing and materials and discover the warming properties of different textiles. Can you create the cosiest bed?

    Available November to March

  • Step into the Stone Age and explore our reconstructed buildings! From our lightweight Mesolithic shelters to our large Neolithic hall, plus our new Neolithic shrine and standing stone, you’ll experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the ancient past on this guided tour with our educators.

Studying a different era? See our trips for the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, or create your own!

visiting the gift shop

  • Hassle-free and organised by our staff

  • Takes just 15 minutes and doesn’t affect teaching time

  • Promotes confidence, maths, decision-making

  • Gives experience of real-world interactions with strangers

  • Good-quality historical trinkets relevant to your topic

  • All for pocket-money prices and under £5

  • Option to pre-select goody bags ready to pick up on the day

 stone age to Iron Age school trip prices

Prices include:

  • A full day of tuition (10am till your choice of 2-3pm)

  • Dedicated educators to guide your group throughout the day

  • Talk on ancient history, from the Stone Age to the Iron Age

  • Four hands-on workshops of your choice led by our team

  • Space for lunch in our historic surroundings

  • Organised visit to the gift shop (subject to availability)

  • Free teacher pre-visit

  • Free classroom video

  • Post-visit activity sheet

  • Classroom poster

  • Voucher for every student to visit in the holidays for free

VAT is charged at 20%. Your school may be able to claim back VAT. Speak to your finance officer to find out!

 

A Hampshire school trip

Butser Ancient Farm is conveniently located just off the A3, with great transport links to London, Portsmouth, Hampshire, and South East England. And when you’re here, parking is free!

Suitable for Ks1, Ks2, Ks3, & Ks4

Our award-winning education team expertly tailors each Stone Age to Iron Age school trip to the age and stage of your students.

 
“One of the best school trips I have ever been on. Excellent hands-on activities supported by enthusiastic, patient, and knowledgeable staff.”
“We had such a fantastic day and the children have not stopped talking about it! It has made a huge difference to their understanding of the time period.”
 

We recommend booking at least a term in advance of your trip.

Faqs

  • These timings are for example purposes only; your exact timings, including timings of toilet breaks, may differ on the day.

    10:00 - You arrive at Butser and are welcomed by the education team member who will be guiding your group for the day. We’ll also give you a quick safety brief.

    10:30 - You are guided to our Stone Age area and given an introductory talk on the Stone Age.

    11:00 - You get hands-on with your first two workshops. You’ll also have a chance to use the toilet during this time.

    12:15 - Lunch time! You’ll eat your lunch outside in our historic surroundings, or round the fire in one of our historic buildings if it’s wet.

    1:00 - We gather back up for your last two workshops. You can also visit the toilet during this time if you need.

    2:15 - A chance to practice maths in our gift shop with a quick and orderly visit, organised by our staff.

    2:30 - Home time!

  • Butser Ancient Farm is a fully-accessible, rustic site, with gentle slopes and packed gravel pathways. All our buildings are fully accessible, except for a small mezzanine area in the Roman Villa. For more information, including a sensory description of each area, please see our accessibility page here 🡒

    Our education team has extensive experience working with SEN students and groups, and is skilled at matching delivery to each individual’s needs.

    We have private rooms available on request. Unfortunately we do not currently have a Changing Places Toilet on site.

  • Our school trips at Butser are flexible to suit KS1, KS2, KS3, and KS4 students. Our activities are suitable for all ages, and are pitched according to the age and stage of your students.

    Your school trip will cover several areas of the National Curriculum for history, as well as key areas of other subjects including science, maths, and design and technology.

    Some example areas include:

    All: Continuity and change, British history, developing understanding of historical terms and concepts (eg civilisation, archaeology), local history, chronology of early history

    Key Stage 1: Lives of significant individuals (eg Boudicca), local historical events, people and places of significance

    Key Stage 2: Changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age, the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain, Britain’s settlements by Anglo-Saxons, Viking and Anglo-Saxon conflict, the creation of the Kingdom of England, local history study, achievements of early civilisations (eg Romans)

    Key Stage 3: Extending chronological themes in British history from before 1066, Britain’s changing landscape and political powers in the Iron Age through to the Viking era, study into a significant turning point (eg Neolithic Revolution, Roman invasion), study of a site in local history from before 1066

    Key Stage 4/GCSE history: Ancient history, migration of early peoples, Roman Empire and invasion, early developments in technology, greater understanding of archaeological disciplines

  • We take safety extremely seriously and have full risk assessments for the site and all our activities, as well as a robust safeguarding policy, however we also ask that you complete your own risk assessment for the trip to better reflect any specific needs that your group may have.

    To help you complete this risk assessment, you will be able to make a free teacher pre-visit to Butser ahead of your school trip.

    For more information on accessibility at Butser, see here. For our full risk assessments, see here.

  • We will split your students into teaching groups of up to 30, each led by a dedicated member of our education team. The groups may rotate through the activities, but every child will have a chance to do every activity you have picked for your school trip.

    You are welcome to bring as many adults as you need for free. We maintain a ratio of 1:30 Butser staff to students; we recommend you aim for a 1:10 ratio adults to students.

  • Butser Ancient Farm is an open-air archaeology museum and working farm in Hampshire. We feature buildings reconstructed from real UK archaeology, and cover the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman Britain, Anglo-Saxon, and Viking periods.

    Our buildings feature open fires, and we have a variety of animals on site. We operate whatever the weather, and will relocate you inside a historic building if it’s too wet!

  • We strongly recommend that you visit us for a free pre-visit before your school trip. We require teachers to create their own risk assessment for the trip on top of our existing risk assessments for the site and workshops, and this pre-visit is a great opportunity for you to assess risks and get to know the site ahead of your trip.

    Once you’ve booked your school trip, we will walk you through the process to book your free pre-visit. Please be sure to bring your teacher ID with you.

  • Butser Ancient Farm is in East Hampshire, between London and Portsmouth. We are conveniently located just off the A3, with free parking available on site. Get directions on Google Maps 🡒

    We recommend travelling to us by coach. We are a 1hr45 drive from central London, and a 25 minute drive from Portsmouth.

    Our nearest train station is Petersfield. There is a bus that runs from the station to near Butser, but we don’t recommend taking it as the route includes a walk along a dangerous road.

  • We will invoice you after your trip for the number of students on your booking, or the number who attended on the day, whichever is higher. Payments after 30 days will incur a surcharge of £50.

    Our minimum charge is equivalent to the cost of 20 pupils +VAT.

    Cancellations made at least one month in advance, or where the school trip is rebooked for the same academic year, do not incur a cancellation fee.

    Cancellation fees are:

    25% of the visit cost +VAT if the cancellation is made within 30 days of your trip

    50% +VAT if it is made within 14 days of your trip

    100% +VAT if it is made within 24 hours of your trip

    All cancellations must be made in writing.

    In the unlikely event that we are forced to cancel your trip, we will make every attempt to rearrange for another date. Cancellations are extremely rare and usually only in the case of extreme weather or government ruling.

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