OLD SCHOOL

Students From King Charles’ School Make Jaw-Dropping Discovery

The pupils were assisting with an archaeological dig on a remote island when they made the find.

Students from a prestigious boarding school previously attended by King Charles discovered a Viking church that could be more than 1,000 years old. The group of 10 pupils from the $93,000-a-year Gordonstoun School in Scotland found the remains of the medieval building while assisting with an archaeological dig. The students joined researchers from the Orkney Research Center for Archaeology and found the tops of the ancient church beneath a newer building on the island of Swona, north of the nation’s mainland. While working on the dig on the abandoned island, the students stayed in a derelict house with no electricity or running water and had to fetch water from an ancient well. The grueling workday began around 8 a.m. and finished around 6 p.m. “The archaeology dig was the most enjoyable part of the trip; being able to discover history in real time was incredible,” said pupil Archie Maclean, 17. Vikings are believed to have been the first settlers on Swona, with the last remaining residents leaving the island in 1974.