Year 7 Trip to Stansted Mountfitchet Castle – Friday 5th November 2021
We were incredibly lucky to have warm sunny weather for our morning trip Mountfitchet Castle, which is a national Historic Monument, protected by the Department of the Environment. It is a reconstruction of a Motte and Bailey Castle, the early style of wooden castle first built by the Normans in their conquest of England following the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
The armed with a worksheet, the students set off to explore the site and discover what life was like for those living in these early castles. This included examining the approach to the castle, it’s defences and weaknesses, finding out why charcoal was important, the value of having an eel pond, medieval kitchen, the weaver’s and surgeon’s houses, the Hell-Hole and the Ducking Stool. The site also has a number of chickens and goats within Bailey of the castle. The students were amused as a goat devoured a worksheet. I had to warn the students that I would not accept ‘the goat ate my worksheet’ as an excuse for not handing me a complete worksheet.
