A GROUP of pupils of a Great Witley school are learning more about the 400 million year history of the land on which their school is built.

The children at Abberley Hall School have become champions for an Earth Heritage Project which aims to record and protect the geology and landscape of Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Eve Miles, of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Earth Heritage Trust, explained that the community champions’ initiative, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, aimed to encourage people to take more interest in their environment and understand the relationships between geology, ecology and archaeology.

She said: “The rocks beneath the two counties cover millions of years of Earth’s history and tell a fascinating story of continental collisions, tropical seas, deserts, swamps and polar deserts. These changes have produced the unique landscapes seen here today.”

She added that the trust had appointed groups of champions at some of the most interesting sites across the two counties, one of which ran through the Abberley Hall School grounds.

“They have received training in a number of subjects to understand the features of their site,” she said,” “They are also carrying out conservation work to protect the important features and monitoring it for any changes in condition, so enabling people to enjoy the area for years to come.

“It has been a real pleasure working with Abberley Hall School during the champions’ project. The headmaster John Walker has been so enthusiastic about teaching the children about their local geology and, hopefully, this will lead to a few budding geologists in the next generation."

Information boards have been put up along a public trail with details of the structure of the area so that people can learn more about what can be found beneath their feet.