CARISBROOKE Castle found itself under siege this week — from more than 300 Isle of Wight schoolchildren.

But this invasion force came in peace — to learn more about their Anglo-Saxon ancestors as part of a two-day living history event to celebrate the new Anglo-Saxon Treasures exhibition showing at Carisbrooke Castle Museum.

Children from eight local schools were treated to a wide range of hands-on activities to help bring the items in the exhibition to life, including dressing up in period costumes, handling replica artefacts and listening to traditional Anglo-Saxon stories and myths.

They also heard about Anglo-Saxon warfare with an opportunity to look at the crafts and weaponry of re-enactors Wolfguard and Wihtwara, before watching an exciting Viking/Saxon skirmish.

The event, organised by the Isle of Wight Council's heritage education service and English Heritage, celebrated rare treasures recently returned to the Island from the British Museum and on display at the castle museum for the first time.

The exhibition is funded by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund. It brings together objects from the collections of the British Museum, English Heritage and the Isle of Wight Council Heritage Service.

Rachel Tait, curator at Carisbrooke Castle Museum, said: "The Anglo-Saxon Treasures exhibition explores life on the Isle of Wight more than 1,000 years ago.

"The people of this time chose to be buried with special artefacts that provide an insight into their lives, occupations and beliefs.

"Far from being a sleepy backwater, the Island was at the frontier of international trade in goods and ideas and these people created a rich material culture."

At the heart of the exhibition is a group of artefacts excavated from Chessell Down in the 1850s and held by the British Museum in London since that time.

Alongside these will be shown artefacts excavated from the site of Carisbrooke Castle, highlighting the Saxon past of this important place which has been inhabited for more than 1,500 years, and other important local artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon period.