Cheney School’s Rumble Museum welcomed a delegation of 33 middle-school students and three teachers from Gochang, South Korea, on Thursday 16 July 2026 for "Stones Across Time: Stonehenge and the Gochang Dolmens", a cultural exchange celebrating the shared megalithic heritage of the two countries.

 

 

The event, held at the school from 2-4pm under the collaboration project "Gochang–Cheney School Dolmen Study Exchange", was co-organised by Cheney School and the Jeonbuk State Gochang Office of Education, and supported by the Korean Education Centre UK and Gochang County Office. The visiting students toured Stonehenge the previous day before presenting their comparative research in Oxford. They were joined by around 30 Cheney School pupils from the Korean Language Club and the Rumble Museum Council, together with two members of staff.

 

In the study presentations, Nadia in year 9, examined the chronology and composition of Stonehenge, while Jihyo, 15 (Gochang Middle School), Subin, 15 (Jayu Middle School) and Gayeong, 15 (Yeongseon Middle School) jointly presented how dolmens were built, how the different types are distributed across the region, and what makes the Gochang dolmens distinctive.

 

Around the hall, A3 academic posters compared the two monuments through four questions, when and who, why, what and how, and where, drawing on sources including UNESCO, English Heritage and the Korea Heritage Service, with printing supported by the Korean Education Centre UK. After the presentations, pupils from both schools gathered around the posters to discuss the findings together.

 

The second half of the afternoon turned to Korean culture. Sohyeon, 15, and Nagyeong, 15 (both Yeongseon Middle School) introduced aspects of Korean culture, and pupils from both schools then made traditional Korean bracelets together. A K-pop dance performance followed, given by Hyerin, 15 (Jayu Middle School), Hyewon, 15 (Shimwon Middle School), Hyungtak, 15 (Daeseong Middle School) and Cheonhai, 14 (Gongeum Middle School). The visit closed with a tour of the school.

 

The Jeonbuk State Gochang Office of Education donated books and academic materials on dolmens from across Korea to Cheney School’s Rumble Museum. The Cheney School Korean Language Club and the Rumble Museum plan to continue studying Korean dolmens as part of their comparative cultural work.

 

The Gochang dolmen sites were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 as part of the Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites. Around 440 dolmens stand in the Jungnim-ri area alone, with about 1,600 across Gochang County, and UNESCO describes Korea as having the densest concentration of dolmens of any country. Stonehenge was inscribed in 1986 as part of Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites. Though some 9,000 kilometres (about 5,600 miles) apart, both monuments preserve the memory of prehistoric communities in monumental stone.

 

Mr Gimson, Museum Lead and Head of Higher Attainment and UCAS at Cheney School, said: "It was a great pleasure to welcome the students from Gochang to Cheney School. The standard of the pupils’ presentations and posters on our two World Heritage Sites was very high, and it was wonderful to see students from both countries learning from one another and building friendships."

 

Dr Lorna Robinson, Director of the Rumble Museum and of the educational charity The Iris Project, said: "The Rumble Museum exists to help students learn about the world through objects and heritage. Watching pupils explore together what two cultures as far apart as Gochang and Salisbury Plain have left behind is exactly the kind of education Cheney School and the Rumble Museum hope to offer."

 

Dr Sook Kyung Han, Superintendent of the Jeonbuk State Gochang Office of Education, said: "The dolmens of Gochang and Stonehenge are World Heritage Sites which humanity has protected together across timeand distance. I hope this exchange will encourage our students to introduce the heritage of Gochang proudly on the world stage and to pursue still greater dreams."