Tick Tock
4/09/23
Exploring Warwick Castle
I can’t believe it is September already! I really hope you had a great summer holiday and are ready to go back to school this week. Over the holidays I went to Warwick Castle to explore the amazing castle itself and to enjoy all the amazing things they have going on there. It is definitely worth a visit and you can find out more about going there yourself by visiting their website.
The Castle
The first castle to be built on this site was a wooden Motte and Bailey castle in 1068 on the orders of William the Conqueror soon after the Battle of Hastings. That was 955 years ago! The mound that this castle was built on is still at the castle.
During the 35 year reign of Henry II, from 1154 to 1189, the wooden Motte was changed into a stone keep with protective curtain walls around it.
Warwick Castle was attacked in 1264 during a civil war and easily taken under control. The castle that was there at the time was partly destroyed, not during an attack but to stop it being used.
About 100 years later the castle was rebuilt into the castle we can still see today. The addition of further defensive features were added over the years, including a gatehouse, barbican and extra towers, one of which included an underground dungeon!
In 1642 this castle was besieged by Royalist forces during the English Civil War but this time was able to hold off the attack.
Since then Warwick Castle has at times fallen in part to ruins, had parts of it rebuilt and reused. It has been owned by many people over the years and been home to many important people, including the Earl of Warwick, who was nicknamed the Kingmaker as he had so much power during the time of the War of the Roses and in deciding who would king.
This is where the original wooden Motte and Bailey Castle was built in 1068.
Wars of the Roses Show
Over the Summer holidays Warwick Castle has a War of the Roses show by the Knights of Middle England. It tells the story of the battles fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York who were both fighting to claim the throne of England. The War of the Roses was a civil war in England than lasted for 30 years. It is fantastic and definitely worth a visit to Warwick Castle to see!
Birds of Prey Show
This was probably my favourite part of my visit to Warwick Castle! They have an amazing birds of prey show that runs throughout the year. It was just so lovely to see these amazing birds up close, my favourite were probably the owls. I think I need to learn more about these birds from Flash!
Zog
Another fun thing to do at Warwick Castle is all the Zog based activities. There is the fantastic Zog Playland playground, a Zog show, a Zog trail, storytime with Zog and you can also meet Zog himself! Fantastic if you really like this story created by Julia Donaldson.
Even more to explore!
The funny thing is there is even more to do at Warwick Castle than I have shown you! The inside of the castle is fascinating and gives you a glimse of what life might have been like to live in the castle. And there is so much more to see of the defensive features of the castle. On top of that there is the massive trebuchet, dungeon (although I avoided that one!), watermill, the Horrible Histories Maze and the beautiful grounds to explore. You can even stay there over night if you want!
All photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots and Shutterstock Images.
Other images on the site may be Public Domain or Creative Commons Images, which are credited appropriately.