On Friday 22^nd June, a group of 34 Year 7 pupils visited Chepstow Castle and Raglan Castle.  The weather was glorious and we had lots of fun exploring and investigating the way in which castles have developed over time.  We started with Chepstow Castle which is the earliest stone-built castle in the UK.  We looked at the defences built during the different phases of the castle and tried to imagine how grand the accommodation became as time went by.  There was a lot of climbing of towers and exploring the battlements which the pupils enjoyed.  At Raglan Castle, we began our afternoon with a picnic next to the moat.  As a later castle, we looked at how it actually became a great palace and heard stories of the Siege of Raglan in 1646 which resulted in the destruction of the castle.  Again, there were towers to climb and cellars to explore.  It was a very interesting day and much enjoyed by both staff and pupils.