Stepping Back

STOP!Grab your

shields and listen

Rockingham Castle was wooden in the 11th Century, it was re built in stone within 30 years by William 2nd. Edward 3rd was the last Monarch to visit while it still

belonged to the crown.

The children all said ‘WOW’ when they saw this view.

In 1270 Henry 3rd added the twin D tower gatehouse.

In the last few centuries servants lived at the top of the building at the end of this

cobbled street. Underneath them was the laundry.

Medieval

Birch Bark

Hibiscus

Goldenrod

Queen Anne’s Lace(Alum and Iron)

Onion Skins

Queen Anne’s Lace(Alum)

Natural dyes and the colours they make

Knights went to mass at dawn and said prayers.

• Page at 7 (a servant for a knight)

• Around the age of fifteen, the page would become a squire. As a squire, the young man would have a new set of tasks. He would take care of the knight's horses, clean his armour and weapons, and accompany the knight to the battlefield.

• They trained with real weapons and were taught fighting skills by the knight. They had to be in good shape and strong. Squires continued to practice their horsemanship, perfecting their skills at jousting and fighting from the saddle. Most future knights worked as a squire for five or six years.

Dubbing Ceremony If a squire had proven his bravery

and skill at battle, he would become a knight at the age of

twenty-one. He gained the title of knight at a "dubbing" ceremony. At this ceremony he would kneel

before another knight, lord, or king who would then tap the

squire on the shoulder with his sword making him a knight. 

At the ceremony, the new knight would take an oath to honour and protect his king and the church.

He would be presented with a pair of riding spurs and a sword. 

Sop in Wine

Quintain and Pell

The Lords and Ladies ate in the Great Hall. The servants slept in there at night.

There was usually entertainment

after dinner.

Ladies did sewing in the

afternoons while the men looked around the grounds of

the manor house or castle, or trained their

birds of prey and horses.

Lots of people worked in the kitchen

Water was heated over a fire and had to be carried up the stairs in buckets to fill the barrel.

This person has their food on a special

board across their bath

The Solar was a room in the castle called the Lords and Ladies Chamber, or the Great Chamber. The Solar was intended for use as a bedroom and used by the lord and lady of the castle - it also afforded some privacy for the noble family of the castle. This type of

chamber was originally a partitioned room which was added to the end of the Great Hall.

Our final song

It might seem crazy what we’re about to sayKnights in castles- they saved the day.

Protecting our land from the enemySometimes having battles so far away.

Because I'm happyClap along if you think that castles are really big

Because I'm happyClap along if you think moats took forever to dig.

Because I'm happyClap along if you know that the doors were really wide

Because I'm happyClap along if you know that horses often went inside.

Jousting on a horse with a lance, yeah,Court Jesters made us happy with a dance, yeah,

We all ate bread and drank some wine, yeah,Living in a castle was just fine.

Here's why