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Competition: write a siege diary for your chance to win a £100 goody bag!

Can you imagine yourself into the past?  Write a diary entry explaining what it was like to be part of the siege of Kenilworth Castle in 1266 – either as an attacker or defender.  The writer of our favourite entry will win a goody bag of treats from our online shop worth £100!

Image: Illustration of a siege at Dover Castle in the 13th century

What is a siege?

Imagine living in a castle: with high walls, turrets and maybe even a moat, you’d feel very safe and secure, wouldn’t you? But for medieval castle defenders, even the protection of an imposing fortress sometimes wasn't enough to stop enemy forces from trying to attack by laying siege to it.  They would try to take over the castle by attacking the people inside it, cutting off essential supplies like food, and even attempting to demolish the structure itself.

Dover Castle in Kent managed to resist sieges in 1216 and 1217, even though the attackers built a siege tower (pictured) and bombarded the castle walls using mangonels (which were like giant catapults).  Scarborough Castle in North Yorkshire wasn’t so lucky when it endured a five-month siege as part of the Civil War in 1645.  Its walls were pounded with cannon balls weighing up to 29kg and the defenders eventually had to surrender when they ran out of first gunpowder, then money, and finally food.

Image: The exterior of Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire

The siege at Kenilworth Castle

As endless as five months of living under attack must have seemed to the defenders of Scarborough Castle, it wasn’t as long as the siege that took place almost 400 years earlier at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire (pictured).

In the mid-1260s, England was divided by a civil war between Henry III and rebel barons. The rebels’ leader, Simon de Montfort, had just died in battle. His supporters massed inside Kenilworth Castle and pledged to fight on. It took months for the king’s army to gather and prepare to attack the castle. The king tried to frighten the rebels, then to negotiate with them, but neither side would give in.

Image: Illustration of the siege at Kenilworth Castle in 1266

Life under siege

The king and his eldest son, Edward, led their army. Edward’s siege tower (pictured) reached the castle, but it was destroyed before soldiers could climb over the wall. Stones fired from opposing trebuchets were described as ‘clashing in the air’.

The siege started on 25 June 1266. Kenilworth Castle was sheltering 1,200 men along with their wives and children, who had to endure bombardment from siege engines and watch as the king’s army prepared to attack. Inside the castle, food was scarce and many people became ill. On 14 December 1266, the exhausted rebels surrendered and King Henry unexpectedly allowed them to leave. But violence flared up again around the country. Peace was finally secured after another siege in London.

Image: A boy writing in an exercise book

Write your siege diary

Now you’ve read about the siege of Kenilworth Castle, imagine that you were there in 1266.  Write a one-page diary entry, explaining what the experience of attacking the castle, or being under attack, would have been like.

If you’re writing about attacking the castle, imagine how you feel as you approach it.  Are you feeling brave, or scared?  What weapons do you have? Do you think you will be able to infiltrate the castle?  If you’re imagining you’re inside the castle, you could talk about what it’s like to be under attack.  How long do you think your supplies will last? What weapons can you use to fend off the invaders?  What will you do if they try and use a siege tower to scale the walls?

Whichever side you’re on, use your imagination to describe what’s happening and how you feel.  You could even include an illustration of what you could see looking over the castle wall.

Image: A girl fills in a notebook at a dining table

How to enter

Once you’ve written your diary, you can enter it into our competition to
be in with a chance of winning a goody bag of prizes worth £100 from
our online shop. Ask an adult to scan or take a clear photograph of it and
send it to us at membersmagazine@immediate.co.uk, along with your full
name and age, and your parent’s membership number, name and address.
Please make sure you have your parent or guardian’s permission to enter,
and check the terms and conditions below. Entries must be in by midnight
on Sunday 4 April 2021. Good luck!

Enter now

Terms and Conditions

  • Terms and Conditions
    • The Promoter is: The English Heritage Trust, incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 7447221 and charity number 1140351 whose registered office is at The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, SN2 2EH (‘English Heritage’).
    • These terms and conditions apply to the ‘Write a Siege Diary Competition’ (‘the Competition’), running from Monday 8 March 2021 (the ‘Opening Date’) until midnight Sunday 4 April 2021 (the ‘Closing Date’).
    • All Competition entries received after the Closing Date shall be automatically disqualified.
    • No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
    • The Competition is open to English Heritage Young Members resident in the United Kingdom. Entrants under the age of 13 will need permission from a parent or guardian (aged 18 or over).
    • Employees or contractors of English Heritage, any person directly or indirectly involved in English Heritage or the running of the Competition, or their direct family members are not eligible for the prize.
    • There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this Competition.
    • By entering this Competition, each entrant is agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.
    • Entries must be sent as a scanned or photographed file with clear details of the entrant’s name and age, and a parent or guardians name, email, address and membership number. Entries submitted in any other way will not be accepted.
    • The winning entrant will be contacted via email to the email address provided.
    • Obscene or inappropriate entries will not be accepted and English Heritage reserves the right to reject any entries for any reason at its sole discretion.
    • Entries must not infringe the copyright of anyone else and entrants will hold English Heritage harmless from any claims in relation to their entry alleging that the entry infringes the personal or proprietary right of any other person.
    • Only one entry will be accepted per person.  Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.
    • English Heritage reserves the right to cancel or amend the Competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.  Any changes to the Competition will be notified to entrants by English Heritage.
    • The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
    • The winner will be contacted by Friday 9 April 2021. If a Competition winner cannot be contacted or does not claim their prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the Competition winner and pick a replacement Competition winner.
    • The Competition winner’s name may be published on English Heritage’s website and social media channels in a shortened form.
    • English Heritage reserves the right to substitute any prize for one of equal or greater value.
    • The Competition prize is as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. The Competition prize is not transferable.
    • The Competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
    • This Competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or any other social network. You are providing your information to English Heritage and not to any other party.
    • The information provided will be used in conjunction with the following Privacy Policy found at: www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/our-people/our-policies/privacy-policy/. The personal data you provide will only be used for the purposes of the Competition and will be destroyed once the Competition has ended.
    • English Heritage shall have the right, at its sole discretion and at any time, to change or modify these terms and conditions, such change shall be effective immediately upon posting to this webpage.

     

    The Competition Prize:

    • One entrant will receive a goody bag of items to the value of £100, selected from the English Heritage online shop.
    • The Competition winner will be chosen by a panel of judges appointed by English Heritage.
    • No cash alternative to the prize will be offered.