Kryal Castle Visit

On Monday the 23rd of October, both Year 8 classes travelled to Kryal Castle. We started the day off by taking a lovely picture, outside the very realistic looking castle. Unfortunately, we had to wait a solid 10 minutes before the castle opened, outside in the cold. With our ears red, and noses runny, (which was uncharacteristically fitting for the Medieval ages) we met our first tour guide, Molly. She was adorned in fitting medieval clothing that looked very warm to wear. 

We were guided to the Jesters Theatre that had a slightly sour scent, and buzzing heaters. We devoured our basic morning tea treats and then we were off for a morning of activities. 

Our first activity was learning about mediaeval herbs. 'Apothecary’ in other words, which was basically the study of medicine or a chemist. We learnt about how modern-day diseases would have affected people in the Middle Ages – it wasn't very pretty. Archie was the bold, brave student selected to try the ‘Medieval fennel toothpaste’, which he claimed had a bitter aftertaste.

Our next stop was to an old inn, where we played two different board games; Nine Square Men and the Fox and Geese. Both games involving satisfyingly smooth pebbles as playing tokens. The games proved to be an amusing experience while competing and defeating our friends.

On the next stage of our journey, it was spent learning all about ‘Nobility’ in the Middle Ages. We were given the opportunity to roleplay different roles inside the castle. Some of the roles we explored were taken on by courageous students. Aris, as the prideful king, with a crown a bit too big for his head, and Tom Kehoe as his beloved queen. We had Issy as the princess, with her ladies in waiting, Violet and Emmet. Off to the side, was Prince Javiar and his (unfortunate) squire James. Standing beside the throne was Billy, the valued peasant, the one who tested all the king's food and held his wine cup 24/7. While standing between the throne, was the holy bishop, Liam himself. And then there was Tara, who should’ve died four times while ‘attempting’ to be a scullery maid.

We then all had the chance to let out all our energy, while wasting all our money on the lolly shop (which only seemed to make our energy problems worse.) Some of us spent time in the maze, admiring the jousting arena and exploring the grounds further, all while we had a screaming peacock in the background.

After lunch, our peace was ruined by a suspected crime that was happening nearby. We watched as Thomas Grant wrestled Rory to the ground, with Harry screaming, accusing Rory of selling him rotten fish. We were all taken to the courthouse, with all of us dying to see either Harry or Rory be punished for: selling rotten fish or wasting our time. It didn’t matter either way, because someone was punished with their head shoved inside a pillory for five minutes. 

This led us onto our next topic, torture. Inside a dark, sinister room with bloody wax figures strapped onto horrifically looking painful devices, we learned about the dark, and very ugly looking torture methods that would cause anyone extreme pain. Some of us listened with looks of horror and disgust, while others either found it interesting or amusing (weirdly enough). 

All of that led us to the downstairs torture chamber. Filled with flashing lights, screams and even more bloody wax figures. 

To finish off the day, we released our energy in a much more brutal way than just running around. That’s right… sword fighting! Despite being warned about how to be safe when lashing around our foam swords and broken wooden shields… a lot of us were really into it. Billy was very skilful with fighting, and James enjoyed it so much so that he bought a sword from the lolly shop as a souvenir. However, Rory did take a non-life-threatening injury that forced him to sit out. 

We helped pack up and made our way back to the bus while bidding the castle goodbye. We spent the bus ride home in a tired haze, before arriving back at school, spending 30 minutes playing basketball, cricket, and BANG! on the basketball courts. Once the bell rang, we all went home tired but satisfied from the basically free day off school, but we did learn a lot from the Middle Ages.

Thanks to Mrs Doyle, Megan, and Miss Dridan for an entertaining excursion. It will definitely help us understand Medieval Europe, visualise the environment and be thankful we were not alive during the Middle Ages. 

by Tara Allen with the assistance of the Year 8 girls.