Year 2 Colchester Castle Trip

On Wednesday Year 2 visited Colchester Castle as part of our Castles topic. Read on to find out what we got up to with our day:



After the long coach trip to Colchester, we arrived! We were full of excitement and we couldn't wait to get exploring!

During our trip we participated in some interesting activities that helped us to learn about what living in a castle and what life during the medieval period was like.

We learnt that they used herbs as medicines and we got to touch and spell them as well as talk about what each of these were used for - although we weren't too keen on garlic as it really ponged!



We looked at what the cooks of the castle would use and we explored what people in medieval times would eat compared to what we eat now.





We looked at some beautiful writing and illustrations from the medieval period and we discussed how they wouldn't have had a pen and paper like we do at school, instead it was a quill and parchment. We couldn't believe that parchment is made from animal skin! We also then had a go at colouring some of our own medieval lettering.



In the other activities, we looked at different materials that would have been used to make products in the medieval period and we looked at the people who worked in castles and what they'd use.




We were given a guided tour by a jester and a knight, and they showed us all the different parts of the castle.


We pretended that we were in a siege, and we invaded the castle by charging across the drawbridge towards the castle door! We had to scream really loudly so that we sounded terrifying!


They showed us the well where people would get their water from. It was really deep! They would have to drop a bucket all the way down to collect the water and then pull it all the way up again.


The guides took us to the roof, where you could see all of land surrounding the castle. On our way up, we had to climb some really wonky stairs. The guides explained how the spiral staircase could be used if enemies invaded. The knights would hide on the thinner part of the stairs, and wait for the enemies to climb up the wider parts and then chop their heads off on the way up! There were also carvings in the walls that the knights had made with their swords when they were bored.


They showed us lots of different parts of the castle - including the toilet (or rather a hole in the wall)! Did you know that they didn't have flushing toilets, but instead they had to use a stick? YUK!


We also had some time to explore the museum. We did sketching using our art skills that we've been learning and tried on different outfits from that period including some knights helmets. They were really heavy!





After we'd eaten some lunch, we then got back on the coach for the journey home. Although we were tired, we had a really great time on the trip! We all had different favourite parts, but most of us loved the guided tour as we learnt so much!