Instruments, songs and tales of English life from the Battle of Hastings to Tudor times took centre stage at Sunnydale School, in Shildon.
Rick and Helen Heavisides, who make up the Hautbois Musicians, played modern reproductions of old musical instruments.
All 150 of the school's Year seven students brought their studies to life by discovering the origins of the instruments.
Sunnydale's head of history, Hylton Balmer, said: "These musical workshops have enabled them to view the period from a different slant and provide and interesting stimulus for their studies."
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