CHILDREN at a school in Upper Heyford helped make history by burying a time capsule under their new village green.

Primary and secondary school pupils at Heyford Free School picked out items they thought best reflected the site’s history, including its time as a wartime airfield and USAF atomic bomber base during the Cold War.

Year nine pupil Kayleigh Buddin saying she thought the time capsule would be an interesting discovery for people in the future.

The 13-year-old said: “It means that people can remember what Heyford Park was like.”

Items included school uniform, school ties, posters and projects, a school prospectus, a Champagne cork, old and new photos of the school and copies of the Heyfordian Magazine from the 1960s.

Head of Humanities at the school David Jardine said the project would be both historically beneficial to residents of the future and academically beneficial to current pupils.

He said: “Students will be studying the Cold War, which they will now be able to link to Heyford Park, in the new year.”

One of the first people to lay a handful of earth onto the capsule was Jeane Evett, who works for one of the developers behind the new Heyford Park village, a project that includes 700 new homes, an indoor sports centre and outdoor pitches on the former airbase near Bicester.

There are also plans for a neighbourhood centre, with shops and a village pub.

Ms Evett said: “Heyford Park has undergone much change over the past century and it is fitting to commemorate its importance to both local and British history as we lay the foundations for the future of the village.

“We are delighted to involve the school in the creation of the new community and to create a tangible link between the past, present and future of Heyford Park.

“We’d like to pass on our thanks to the staff and students who have worked hard to assemble a snapshot of the rich tapestry of Heyford Park’s history.”