STUDENTS watched a stonemason carve out a piece of history for Bridport’s Town Hall.

The year nine Colfox school pupils spent a stone-themed day in Purbeck with craftsman Karl Dixon as part of Bridport Town Council’s Town Hall Heritage and Conservation project.

The town council has tried to use local workmen and materials as far as possible in the £1.4million town hall revamp.

Project activities co-ordinator Crystal Johnson said: “From the outset we have wanted the Town Hall project to be of the highest quality and completely unique to Bridport. “We are very excited to be working with such skilled local artists and community groups to create something really special that truly reflects the history and character of Bridport. “It is fantastic that such a wide cross-section of local residents are putting their mark on their Town Hall for the future.”

The pupils stopped off at Lovells Quarry where they saw the ‘hole’ where the Town Hall floor is being quarried.

They also learned about the various stages of processing that the stone will need to go through before it is delivered to the Town Hall ready to lay as finished tiles. Then they spent two hours learning the basic skills of stonemasonry at the Burford Centre. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the project is one of a number of community-based projects being led by artists as part of the restoration of the Town Hall. The aim is to give the community opportunities to be part of the restoration project and to develop a greater understanding of the heritage of the building and the skills that are involved in its restoration.

Community artist Darrell Wakelam is also soon to begin a series of workshops.

Year nine art students Amy Van Zyl, Tilly Jeune and Grace Crabtree were among those on the trip. Amy said: “The quarry was amazing. You were looking at something which hadn’t been seen by any eyes for over 150 million years. “I even touched a fossilised turtle and fossilised dinosaur footprints.” Tilly told how they had a go a stone carving.

“At first, with my chisel and hammer in hand I thought stone masonry would be an easy task.

“But half an hour later I almost had blisters, a small shallow line and a hole in the stone where I had accidentally stuck a chisel in.”

Grace said: “A few months ago we would walk over a tiled floor or walk past a carved wall and have no idea how much time and effort had gone into it. “Now after spending a super day walking in the Purbeck rock factory and carving something, we have realised what a great and skilful process stone masonry and quarrying is.”

She added: “We would like to say thank you to the town council for organising this trip, we thoroughly enjoyed it.”