Isle of Wight Day 6 - Carisbrook Castle

Day 6 on the Isle of Wight and we had an amazing day visiting the Carisbrook Castle to watch some sword fighting and jousting. It was a real mixed day of weather being overcast and cold in the morning meaning we all wore fleeces, then around lunchtime it was glorious sunshine and getting burnt watching the fighting and the falcon display.

 

The castle itself is an old 12th century castle and is in amazing condition. We set the boys are task to learn various facts about the castle such as the depth of the well (49m), how old the castle is (800+ years), what the donkeys names were (Jack and Jill) and why all their names start with the letter "J". So it was a bit educational as well as fun for the kids.

 

Out of the four knights that were competing, Brandon managed to pick the champion who won both the sword fighting and the jousting. The falconry display was really good and ended with them flying an American bald eagle which was amazing to see. The kids also got to fire some cross bows, dress up in 12th century clothing and armoury as well as see how weapons were made and how they cooked in those days.

 

Arriving at the castle and Holly gets a picture by the English Heritage horse.

As we joined English Heritage we managed to get quick access through this back door. But we still went through the main entrance later in the day as it is a stunning backdrop for pictures.

At the start of the day we climbed up the steps and circled around the perimeter of the castle wall taking in all the views.

This is a view looking inside the castle wall at the church.

The picture doesn't show it well but you are actually really high up on this wall.

It was cold first thing and we were all wrapped up in fleeces.

View looking down at Beatrice's garden within the castle.

Joshua and Brandon exploring the castle wall.

More shots looking inside the castle.

Looking down at the main entrance to the castle.

The ruins shown here used to be the old mansion on the castle.

The 3 kiddies enjoying exploring the castle.

Its a very big castle with lots of different areas to search and explore.

One of the guards posts at the main entrance.

The amazing American Bald Eagle that we saw take flight in the falconry display.

Josh and B learning to fire medieval crossbows.

Brandon managed to hit the cans and the owl.

Area showing how the weapons were made in the olden days.

And also how they used to cook and what ingredients they used.

In between shows in the main arena they had a band playing medieval style music with tales of Robin Hood etc.

We watched one of the knights put on all his armoury as he explained all the details and functionality. It must have taken him about 15-20 minutes to get fully suited and ready for battle.

The kids all bought flags to represent their knights they were supporting and then half way through the day they also got their flags signed by the knights.

Brandon and Joshua with the winning knight.

Some action from the sword fighting.

Brandon's knight beat my one in the sword battle.

Holly with the winning knight.

Exploring inside the church on the castle grounds.

I told you the min entrance made for a stunning photo backdrop.

I love this picture of Holly and B dressed up as knights.

If I had a table this big at home I bet there would still be fighting and arguing at the dinner table.

Brandon trying on some knights armour. The mesh head gear is surprisingly very heavy.

Once the mesh is on, over goes the helmet.

Joshua's turn. He loved the ironman type glove and had fun punching me in the stomach with it.

The helmet just about fitted Josh.

This was hilarious as Holly got to ride a hobby horse wearing a hat and using a broom stick to joust the target shields.

She hits the target and canters around for a second run.

The real jousting event was explosive and the hits were so hard they were breaking jousts on their opponents.

Look closely here and you can see a bit of joust breaking off as it hits the knights shield.

More jousting action.

One of the many donkeys in the castle that are used to pull the fire truck and to power the water well wheel. all the donkeys names start with the let "J".

To finish our castle exploration we took a walk around Beatrice's garden area.

The end of another really great day on the IOW.