STUDENTS from a Ribble Valley school complemented their studies with a trip to Lancaster Castle.

The Year Seven pupils from Bowland High, studying the history of crime and punishment, toured the civil and criminal courts at the historic castle.

A school spokesman said: “Pupils saw the old branding iron and the steps down to the cells through the trap door. They also saw the room where people who were waiting to be hanged were brought prior to their execution, the old prison cells, and most excitingly, the prison wing that has just been opened to the public since prisoners stopped being held there in 2011.”