The history-making events of 1066 and the Battle of Hastings were brought to life by students of Penrith’s Queen Elizabeth Grammar School who took part in a large-scale re-enactment last Monday.
The event involved the whole of Year 7 and was part of an annual Medieval Day organised by the school’s history department.
Students were taken “off timetable” for the entire day and in the morning took part in a range of medieval-themed activities.
These were followed in the afternoon by a large scale re-enactment of the famous battle, which in 1066 saw the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy — William the Conqueror — and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson clash, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It resulted in a decisive Norman victory and was a key point in English history.
The morning’s activities at the school involved working with history teacher Fiona Shirras on a craft-based project, in which students each recreated a section of the Bayeux Tapestry — to be woven together into a whole piece later.
They were also visited by medieval weapons expert Ulfric Douglas, who brought with him longbows, arrows, swords, spears and all manner of weapons from the period and explained their origins and use.
Students also took part in a catapult competition. Homework this term had included the design and build of a catapult in readiness for the contest, with the winner being the student whose contraption could fling a table tennis ball the furthest.
In the afternoon, the Year 7s changed into costumes which they had created as part of another homework project.
They were divided into two factions —Normans and English — and the best-dressed from each group was picked to be King Harold of England and William the Conqueror.
On the school playing field, the students recreated the strategies and tactics of the warring armies — with no actual combat — as realistically as possible. The English marched and the Normans rowed ashore prior to the battle.
QEGS head of history Peter Baines told the Herald: “Medieval Day brings history to life for our Year 7s and encourages them to engage with the past.”
