IT WAS a night to remember for a group of pupils from a Romsey school.

The links between Romsey Abbey and it’s primary school date back to the foundation of the school in 1852 and last week pupils from Year 5 at Romsey Abbey C of E Primary school delved even further into the Abbey’s 1000 year timeline including its life as a nunnery.

Year 5 pupils under the leadership of their teacher, Philip Carter, spent the day in the Norman Abbey learning about its long history and culminating in a sleepover in the Abbey.

Mr Carter said the children were fascinated to learn that the Abbey had to stop being a nunnery and was bought for the Town for just £100 in 1544 - about £5 million in today’s money.

One of the highlights of the day was climbing all 105 steps to the Abbey’s ringing chamber where the pupils were able to try out their bell-ringing skills - “harder than it looks but great when you hear your bell ringing” was one Year 5’s remark.

Then at 9pm, before settling down for the night, the pupils listened to the service of Compline sung by the Romsey Abbey Girls’ choir and after that it was bedtime. The side chapel of the Abbey was lined with rows of sleeping bags and to keep warm a wonderful variety of onesies which the children decided were ideal for a night sleeping on a stone floor and all went to sleep wondering what the nuns would have made of this twenty first century sleepover!

The next day the pupils were full of excitement about their whole “Abbey experience” and Headteacher, Julie-Anne Palfrey, said that all the Year 5 pupils had enjoyed learning, first hand, about the Abbey’s history and their Abbey sleepover would be a lasting memory.