On Wednesday 3rd February Year 7 travelled to Rochester Castle and Cathedral to gain some understanding of the lives of medieval monks and pilgrims. They visited the cathedral where they learned about the difficult and dangerous lives of those who travelled extraordinary distances to visit Holy shrines and those who would meet them when they arrived.

 Girls also marvelled at nearby Rochester Castle which is one of the countries most impressive Norman castles. The girls returned after a fun filled day with a better understanding of a bygone era to help them with their medieval studies.

Mr G Hawkins

We started our journey at the Cathedral becoming pilgrims on a journey to worship at the tomb of William of Perth.  Itchy woollen cloaks and heavy scrip (bag) reminded us how uncomfortable the pilgrimage might have been.  A scallop shell showed the world that we were pilgrims and a staff and hat completed the “pilgrim look”.  We climbed the pilgrim steps on our knees (ouch!) and then learned a little of the Cathedral’s history.  The second oldest Cathedral in the country, it would have been colourful with wall paintings of stories from the Bible and candles casting shadows.

After lunch we had a change of outfit to become Benedictine monks.  They lived and worked there until Henry VIII’s reign and we learned about their strict timetable – getting up at 2.00am to start their worship each day.  We heard about the different jobs carried out by the monks and their three vows of obedience, fidelity and stability.  As monks we processed to the small chapel and heard some of the Benedictine rules and prayers.  We also witnessed one of their forms of punishment – lying on the ground with arms outstretched - very uncomfortable for our “naughty” monk.

We exited through the Pilgrim’s gateway and crossed the short distance to the Castle built by the same person as the Cathedral.  When we saw the Castle it was just like stepping into our history textbooks and we stood in the bailey musing on the Castle and its position. We went to the basement of the Castle and discovered the cesspit (where all the rubbish and waste went) which was right next to the room where they stored food!  Perhaps they were not so fussy then.  We climbed the spiral staircase to the remains of the Great Hall and pictured it filled with soldiers eating and sleeping.  At the top of the Castle we could see for miles and imagined pouring boiling oil and rocks onto soldiers far below us as we protected our Norman castle.

The trip made us all realise that life was much harder and more fragile in Norman times and we were glad to travel back in time and space, to Alton.

Nikki & Rebecca