Students get hands on insight into housebuilding and archaeology at Mulberry Park

Students from Caister Academy were given a behind the scenes look at a live construction site during a visit to Persimmon Home’s development at Caister, Mulberry Park.

Debi Sherman, Director of Planning, and Joshua Pitcher, Technical Manager, joined students on site and guided them through the early stages of development. A key focus of the visit was the archaeological work currently taking place ahead of construction.

Students were shown a series of trenches that have been excavated as part of the planning process. Some of these trenches, which are located closest to the nearby gun emplacements contain archaeological features, which were left open for students to study to support their school studies with real world examples.

Discussing the visit, Peter Crawley, Senior Project Manager said “This phase built upon what had been seen previously, with evidence for prehistoric field-systems, although this phase was located further to the north and did not uncover many Roman features.

“Following the end of the fieldwork, our team undertook a talk for approximately 30 no. Year 9 students from the Caister Academy, about the findings from the site, from the current and previous phases of work and archaeology in general. The talk was also extended to the nearby brick and concrete gun emplacement used in WWII.”

The visit also gave students the opportunity to learn more about the housebuilding process, from planning and technical design through to construction on site. Persimmon Homes is a five-star housebuilder, recognised for the quality of its homes and customer satisfaction.

Speaking after the visit, a spokesperson for Persimmon Homes Anglia said “We’re always keen to engage with local schools and help young people understand how new communities are created. Seeing the work on site, including the archaeological investigations, helps bring planning, history and construction to life.”