Year
 6 
attacks
 Chepstow!


Infuriated 
as 
they 
discover 
that
 the 
shop at
 Chepstow 
is 
closed,
 Year
 6
 launch 
an
 attack,
 only 
to 
discover
 that
 Chepstow 
is
 still 
able 
to 
defend 
itself
 against 
their
 advances.
 Well
 actually,
 Year 
6
 were 
exploring
 Chepstow
 as
 a
 culmination 
of
 their
 studies 
on 
Castles.
 As
 the 
oldest 
stone 
castle 
in 
the 
country, 
started 
in 
1067,
 it 
shows 
4
 very
 clear 
stages 
in 
its 
development,
 and 
all 
the 
boys
 and
 girls 
were
 able
 to
 point
 out
 the 
different
 stages 
in 
its
 growth.



Mr
 Hicks 
of 
the 
History 
Squad,
 took 
the 
children 
around 
the
 Gatehouse,
 Marten’s
 Tower
 and 
the
 Great 
Hall.
 The 
glories 
of 
the 
medieval
 toilet,
 the
 kitchens
 and
 store
houses,
 how
 they
 could
 get
 their 
supplies 
in 
even 
during 
a
 siege,
 and
 the
 actual 
strength
 of the 
defences
 were
 very
 clear
 to 
see.
 He
 entertains
 the 
group,
 whilst
 passing 
on 
a
 huge 
amount 
of 
information.



My

 group 
walked 
around 
the
 outside
 of 
the 
castle
 – 
it’s 
surprising 
how 
tiring 
the
 climb
 can 
be 
to 
the 
back 
of
 the 
castle,
 and
 all
 the 
while
 the 
towers
 and
 wall
s loom
 over 
us.
 The
 strength
 of
 the
 defences 
are
 very
 clear,
 and
 wherever 
we 
stood
 there
 would
 be 
arrow
 slits, 
hoardings
 and
 crenelations 
able 
to 
hide 
the
 defenders
 whilst
 pouring 
fire
 down 
on 
the 
attacker.
 Having 
worked
 our
 way
 down
 the 
outside,
 we
 then 
looked
 at 
the 
original 
Keep, 
the
 rear 
Barbican
 defences 
and
 the
 strength
 of 
the 
various
 gatehouses,
 whilst
 the
 transition
 of
 the
 Bailey 
into 
a 
killing 
field
 was 
very 
clear 
to 
see.


After
 lunch, 
Mr 
Hicks 
demonstrated
 the 
use 
of 
the 
Longbow, 
and 
then, 
in 
a
 suitably 
gory
 fashion, 
showed
 how 
 to 
extract
 an 
arrow 
from 
a
 wound.
 Firing
 from 
the
 wall‐walk
 outside 
the 
Keep, 
he 
used 
initially 
a 
Crossbow. 
Although 
slow
 to 
load, 
it 
was 
clearly 
very 
powerful, 
and 
he 
told 
us 
that 
in 
a 
siege, 
there
 would
 be 
a 
group 
of 
loaders 
allowing 
the 
archer 
to 
keep 
up 
a 
stream 
of 
fire 
from
 the
 arrow 
slits.
 The 
longbow
 was
 more
 useful
 in
 open 
field 
situations.
 Placing 
a 
skull
 on
 a 
stick 
he then 
fired 
12 
arrows 
in 
a 
minute, 
hitting 
or 
shaving 
the 
stick 
or 
the
 skull regularly, 
without
 appearing 
to 
specifically 
aim.
 We 
then examined
 different 
arrow
heads,
 and 
he 
explained 
how 
Henry 
V, 
when 
still 
the 
Prince 
of
 Wales,
 had
 been 
hit
 by 
an 
arrow 
which 
had 
bounced 
off
 his
 armour
 and
 penetrated 
his 
visor, 
ending 
up 
inside 
the 
cheek
bone.
 Using
 Izzy 
as
 his
 nurse,
 he
 then 
demonstrated 
how 
they 
had
 managed 
to
 extract
 the 
arrow
 head
 and
 heal the
 wound.
 As
 the
 pictures 
elsewhere 
show,
 the
 details
 were
 quite
 gory 
but
 fascinating. 
For 
instance,
 using
 honey 
as
 an 
agent 
to 
help 
clear 
the 
infection
 sounds 
logical, 
but
 then 
you
 realise 
that
 the 
wound 
needs
 to 
be 
dressed
 on
 a
 regular
 basis,
 and 
to 
put
 on 
fresh 
honey
 requires
 some 
unfortunate
 soul
 to
 suck
 out
 the 
original
 honey! 
Not 
a
 job 
for t
he 
faint 
hearted.


He
 was
 however
 very 
impressed 
with 
the
 children’s 
application
 of
 their
 knowledge 
–
 he
 works
 with
 many 
other
 prep
 schools
 and
 complimented 
the
 children
 on 
what 
they 
knew 
–
 good 
to
 hear.

Look 
at
 the 
selection
 of
 pictures
 to
 see
 what year 6 actually got up to at Chepstow.



Click here to see Edward's account.

Access the pictures here