MARAUDING hordes stormed the quiet village of Woodstock in a quest for... education?

As part of a new series of open days, the Friends of The Oxfordshire Museum invited violent Vikings to pillage and plunder the educational establishment on Thursday.

Leading the charge was Viking expert Martin Way, from Alvescot near Bicester.

He led young visitors on a voyage through the Viking history of Oxfordshire and even perplexed their parents with some Viking puzzles.

He said: "I brought a lot of reproduction artefacts along and gave them a talk on Viking life, both domestic and military.

"It went very well – quite a few of the kids did some colouring afterwards but the adults were quite interested in trying to open a Viking padlock."

Mr Way will be back at the museum on March 11 for the official opening of its new Saxon gallery.

Find out more about all museum events oxfordshire.gov.uk