ARTHUR'S WORLD

Costumed volunteers make a discovery.
13th century time travellers find something they recognise at this old church in Stockton in Worcestershire.

 

The award winning author and poet,  Kevin Crossley-Holland, has written a trilogy of books about how Arthur and his medieval world. They make good family reading, the chapters are short and easy to read and the topics thought provoking and sometimes quite challenging. Arthur keeps a sort of diary of his life and thoughts as he grows up, through it the reader is introduced to a world that is very different to our own, if you want to help him with his quest you will have to think carefully about what Arthur might be expecting to see when he travels into your world and explores the places near you. He will find your world really strange, you will have to help him find his way around and find the things you think he will recognise. You will also have to help him make sense of your world.

 

Here are things Arthur might be expecting to see.

 

Manor Houses with a moats around them.  To see a manor house like this you could visit Brockhampton, just outside Bromyard in Herefordshire. It is owned by the National Trust

Castles - Elmley Castle has just about disappeared, Wigmore Castle is not much better but you can explore the ruins - Warwick Castle in Warwickshire and Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire are well worth a visit.  Don't be fooled by Eastnor Castle just find out when it was built before you go!

Moats  around castles and manor houses. -  Hermitage Farm in Wadborough has a moat still marked on maps.  Look carefully on an OS map and see how many remains of moats you can find.

Churches - many churches in this area date from Norman times so they are likely to have been going through their first make-over in Arthur's time. He would be familiar with people making their windows larger. The shape of the window would also be changing, small round headed windows would be being replaced with larger windows with pointed arches. Have a look at the windows timeline.

Some other medieval buildings to look out for.

Crofts

Cottages

Well

Stables

Mill - water, wind.

Orchard

Garden

Woods

Cross

Orchard

Pig sty

Yard

Herb garden

Copper Beech

Sheep fold

Stables

Cow Pasture

Common grazing land

Open Fields cultivated in strips

Headlands

Barns

Farmyards

 

What can you add to this list?