The Dunstanburgh castle field trip was absolutely beautiful minus one thing. The wind was so powerful that day. I felt like I was going to blow away. Other than that, we had beautiful sunny weather for this adventure packed day!
We started off on a walk along the coast in Craster. Craster is a small fishing community on the coast of the North Sea which hosts the site of the spectacular ruins of Dunstanburgh castle.
It is important to understand why this castle was built here in the first place. The main reasoning behind this location was because it was almost totally surrounded by water which helped with its protection. This location houses the sea, marsh and hills which were great for a military defense mechanism. The jagged cliffs on the coastline also give those inhabitants of the castle a higher viewpoint and vantage point making it easier for them to attack those who are trying to siege the castle.
Dunstanburgh castle was built in 1313 by the Duke of Lancaster. It was built for two main reasons, the first being that it was near Scotland. Due to the Scottish raids, the Duke needed a place that was close enough to the border to defend there extensively units of land. Another reason was because they were in opposition to the King and needed a safe place to hide. The Duke was in opposition to the King because of the War of the Roses which was a battle between the Yorks and Lancastrians. It was here at this castle during this time period when Dunstanburgh saw its most action. Lots of damage was caused leaving the castle with many issues and problems to its exterior.
Even though it is hard to imagine what the castle would look like due to state of these ruins, this was an extremely beautiful and extensive medieval castle. It contained a twin towered gate house, which doubled as a keep. A beautiful vast courtyard was enclosed by thick walls which can still be seen a bit today.
The gatehouse keep was 4 stories, and even though we weren't able to climb all the way to the top because of the strong winds, the view from the floors available for us to explore gave me an idea of how these floors were used as lookout areas.
I continued to walk around the castle and was taken away just by the beautiful views that it had to offer. The beautiful blue water, the green grass and hilly landscape and rocky cliffs all paired and complimented the ruins of the castle magnificently.
From this castle we moved further on and walked along the coast for several miles to learn about marine biology. I was really excited about learning about the different kinds of sea creatures as well as just being at the beach in the first place. I was determined however on catching myself a crab. Luckily for me with the help of another student, I successfully got my wish of catching a crab. I couldn't have asked for a better day!
No comments:
Post a Comment