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Saint Ignatius College Geelong
Saint Ignatius College Geelong
Saint Ignatius College Geelong
Lily Petterwood, Matilda Stepto & Jessica Sullivan (8 Owen)
When we arrived at school (embarrassed after catching a bus looking like a peasant, knight or royal) everyone's costumes were amazing and their effort in designing costumes was outstanding. Even the teachers got into the medieval spirit!
It started with a 2 hour bus ride, full of excitement and vigorous noise. After hours of plain farmland, livestock, mountains, while very beautiful, the castle came into view, standing in the grandeur of the hill it was built upon.
Sitting down, the stands were full of chattering voices and the smell of medieval trials. As the sun shone down upon us all, we were sent off to our first experience. While we stumbled along tripping on dresses and cloaks, we were happy to find our first activity was siege weaponry. We knocked down a door with a battering ram, protected our people, and fought bravely.
Our second activity was sword fighting. We were in teams who fought to kill off the other team (don’t worry the swords were foam) trying to protect each other so we would be victorious. The second time we had to protect our king or queen. With our shields and swords in hand, we defended our king or queen and sacrificed ourselves for our family freedom. Once we defeated our enemies in an epic battle for victory, we were whisked off, to participate in the trials of medieval board games. We played two games, Fox and Geese, and a variation of Naughts and Crosses. We played intensely because if we succeeded in crushing our opponent we were allowed an extra advantage in archery.
We then journeyed deep into the midst of the dungeons themselves, we had an explanation of crime and punishment including different torture methods. We ventured down the rickety staircase where screams echoed, lights flashed and blood oozed from the victims (wax figures) of the torture.
Although we weren’t too keen on lunch after the horror of the dungeons, we all stopped for lunch and watched a jousting tournament. Before the jousting started we had to sing the Kryal Castle national anthem: We Will Rock You. We were introduced to the knights who were very talented and enthusiastic. One knight in red and gold and the other in black and white, with heraldry symbols on their armour and horse caparison. There were people stationed to hand the Knights a lance. They stood at the start line on their side. It was 3, 2, 1, GO and they were off, racing towards each other at great pace.
After an enjoyable entertainment of the jousting tournament and trying the lolly shop, we went to learn about the life of nobles, royals, the rules of marriage and servants. This was rather daunting, as princesses got married as soon as they were able to have kids, to a man in their 30s or 40s. The laws and hierarchy of servants in a castle were extremely cruel and unreasonable.
We also learnt about medieval medicines and disease, including the symptoms of the plague, cures, the poor quality of water and how deadly a paper cut could be. This practical unit enabled us to grind herbs to make a medieval bandaid paste. Our last activity was armour and weapons where we saw real weaponry and armour and how effective they were.
Our day at Kryal Castle was a wonderful opportunity to apply and consolidate our learning of Medieval history that we have been studying in Humanities and thank all our teachers for coming along for such an enjoyable day.
Feature
Events
Our News // 02 May 2019
Lily Petterwood, Matilda Stepto & Jessica Sullivan (8 Owen)
When we arrived at school (embarrassed after catching a bus looking like a peasant, knight or royal) everyone's costumes were amazing and their effort in designing costumes was outstanding. Even the teachers got into the medieval spirit!
It started with a 2 hour bus ride, full of excitement and vigorous noise. After hours of plain farmland, livestock, mountains, while very beautiful, the castle came into view, standing in the grandeur of the hill it was built upon.
Sitting down, the stands were full of chattering voices and the smell of medieval trials. As the sun shone down upon us all, we were sent off to our first experience. While we stumbled along tripping on dresses and cloaks, we were happy to find our first activity was siege weaponry. We knocked down a door with a battering ram, protected our people, and fought bravely.
Our second activity was sword fighting. We were in teams who fought to kill off the other team (don’t worry the swords were foam) trying to protect each other so we would be victorious. The second time we had to protect our king or queen. With our shields and swords in hand, we defended our king or queen and sacrificed ourselves for our family freedom. Once we defeated our enemies in an epic battle for victory, we were whisked off, to participate in the trials of medieval board games. We played two games, Fox and Geese, and a variation of Naughts and Crosses. We played intensely because if we succeeded in crushing our opponent we were allowed an extra advantage in archery.
We then journeyed deep into the midst of the dungeons themselves, we had an explanation of crime and punishment including different torture methods. We ventured down the rickety staircase where screams echoed, lights flashed and blood oozed from the victims (wax figures) of the torture.
Although we weren’t too keen on lunch after the horror of the dungeons, we all stopped for lunch and watched a jousting tournament. Before the jousting started we had to sing the Kryal Castle national anthem: We Will Rock You. We were introduced to the knights who were very talented and enthusiastic. One knight in red and gold and the other in black and white, with heraldry symbols on their armour and horse caparison. There were people stationed to hand the Knights a lance. They stood at the start line on their side. It was 3, 2, 1, GO and they were off, racing towards each other at great pace.
After an enjoyable entertainment of the jousting tournament and trying the lolly shop, we went to learn about the life of nobles, royals, the rules of marriage and servants. This was rather daunting, as princesses got married as soon as they were able to have kids, to a man in their 30s or 40s. The laws and hierarchy of servants in a castle were extremely cruel and unreasonable.
We also learnt about medieval medicines and disease, including the symptoms of the plague, cures, the poor quality of water and how deadly a paper cut could be. This practical unit enabled us to grind herbs to make a medieval bandaid paste. Our last activity was armour and weapons where we saw real weaponry and armour and how effective they were.
Our day at Kryal Castle was a wonderful opportunity to apply and consolidate our learning of Medieval history that we have been studying in Humanities and thank all our teachers for coming along for such an enjoyable day.
