The ultimate education at Beeston Castle's Knight School

Saturday 5 – Bank Holiday Monday 7 May 2012

Leave your pencil case and ruler behind, the equipment you’ll need for a visit to Beeston Castle this May Day weekend is a sword and a shield, as Knight School opens for three days of training for young squires, from 5 – 7 May 2012.

Knights were tremendously important in medieval England, not only for their skills in fighting for king and country, but also as they tended to be wealthy landowners and nobles, with children as young as five starting a brutal life of training to make them awesome foes on the battlefield! Young visitors to Beeston Castle will have a taste of some of the training that they would have gone through, including sword drill to weed out the knights from the peasants!

“The life of a knight is often portrayed as being quite glamorous, and certainly, they were the celebrities of their day, but before they could reach the top of their profession, they had to go through years of training and conditioning, and this started very young,” explains Beeston Castle’s new site manager, Dave Gough. “During this long and arduous process, their tutor would first break their spirit and then rebuild it. When a soldier was knighted, it is said that the action of putting a sword onto each shoulder was the last time they would ever permit anyone to touch them with a weapon without responding with deadly force!”

There will be opportunities to talk to Beeston’s knight and feel the weight of some of the weaponry and armour that he will use throughout the day, with regular have-a-go sessions, too.

The event runs from 11.00am to 5.00pm, with admission prices of £6.00 for adults, £5.50 for concessions and £3.50 for children. English Heritage members get in free. Please note that the adjacent car park is not operated by English Heritage; parking charges will apply.

Beeston Castle is located off the A49 near Tarporley in Cheshire. One of the highest points on the Cheshire plain, visitors braving the walk to the inner bailey at the top of the cliff enjoy views over eight counties on a clear day, whilst those looking for a more relaxing time can enjoy the perimeter walk around deciduous and evergreen woodland, take a look at the Victorian sand caves or simply enjoy a picnic on the extensive grassed areas within the walled site.

During the spring, Beeston Castle is also particularly popular with birdwatchers and wildlife spotters, as it is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, from bat colonies and badgers to peregrines, woodpeckers and buzzards.

For more information, please call 01829 260464 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/beeston

ENDS

Other forthcoming events at Beeston Castle & Woodland Park include:

For further media information, please contact:

Jay Commins – PRO English Heritage (West Midlands)

Tel: 0113 251 5698

Mob: 07810 546567

Email: jay@fim.org.uk