On Tuesday 8 and Thursday 10 November all of our Year 7 cohort visited Chepstow Castle in Wales as part of their ongoing study in History on the Norman invasion and conquest and their work on the first castles in Britain and their defences.
Chepstow Castle is one of the oldest stone castles in Britain with its foundations going back to 1067 and this was a superb educational opportunity to see a local castle and be able to tour it’s surviving defence strategies. Year 7 will also soon have an assessment on the development of Castles in the Medieval era, so this was a perfect opportunity to get some first-hand knowledge and to take some pictures to use in their project.
Each tutor group was given a tour designed by our History department and given a work booklet to complete as they explored the castle, explaining why the Normans chose this location, what it’s strength and weaknesses were and how the castle developed over time.The highlight from our student voice was the weapons workshop each tutor group was given by our Medieval Weapons expert Mr Eddiford. He demonstrated how medieval sword fights would occur and how to wear chainmail in battle on some of our willing students! He also gave the students an excellent opportunity to have a whole group weapon display after lunch that showed the power of crossbows and the accuracy and fast pace of preparing and firing arrows.
Thank you to our brilliant Year 7 who were wonderfully well behaved on the trips this week. We look forward to taking more students out on History trips in the very near future!
Mrs Sarbatta – Head of History
