On 13^th February 2020, 35 of our Year 7 pupils visited Chepstow Castle and Raglan Castle with the history department.  We were able to investigate and explore the earliest stone built castle in Britain (Chepstow) and discover how it developed and changed over time.  It was very rainy but this didn’t stop us climbing the towers and wall walks and descending into the cellars to find out more of the amazing history of the castle.

In the afternoon the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy a picnic lunch before starting our exploration of Raglan Castle.  The pupils discovered that Raglan is a late medieval castle that became a palatial home before being bombarded and destroyed by cannon fire during the civil wars of the 17^th century.  Learning stories about some of the people that once inhabited the castle we thought about how the widespread use of gunpowder really meant the end of castles.  Once again we had time to explore the ruins and we had fun climbing the spiral staircases and going into the dark cellars.

The rain didn’t stop us from learning lots about the development of castles by seeing the real thing, imagining what these once great and imposing buildings were once like and most of all having fun.