Beeston Castle and Woodland Park (English Heritage)

Beeston Castle
Tarporley
Cheshire
CW6 9TX
England

Website

Telephone

01829 260464

All information is supplied by the venues or providers themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.
An exterior view of Beeston Castle

Climb to the top of the formidable Castle of the Rock with incredible views over eight counties, from the Pennines to the Welsh mountains. Excavations indicate that a Bronze Age settlement and Iron Age hill fort occupied the site long before Beeston Castle was begun in 1225. According to legend, Beeston still guards King Richard's lost treasure maybe your family can find it! Meanwhile, an exhibition details the other secrets in the 4,000 years of Beeston Castle's history. There are also acres of unspoilt woodland trails to explore, and plenty of wildlife to see.

Venue Type:

Castle or defences, Museum, Prehistoric site, Archaeological site, Garden, parklands or rural site

 Opening hours

1-21 Oct Thu-Mon 10am-4pm , 22-31 Oct daily 10am-4pm, 1 Nov-12 Feb Sat-Sun 10am-4pm, 13-17 Feb daily 10am-4pm, 18 Feb-31 Mar Sat-Sun 10am-4pm,Closed 24-26 Dec & 1 Jan

 Admission charges

5.50/5.00/3.30

Discounts

  • English Heritage

Beeston Castle
Tarporley
Cheshire
CW6 9TX
England

Website

Telephone

01829 260464

All information is supplied by the venues or providers themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.
Resources listed here may include websites, bookable tours and workshops, books, loan boxes and more. You may need to scroll down or click on headers to see them all.
 Face to face resources

Become a Medieval Engineer Discovery Visit

How did people from the past build bridges, towers and siege engines? Become a real engineer in practical workshops exploring how our ancestors solved construction problems. Using a large-scale construction kit, this is literally a hands-on history experience! Explore the main features of the castle in an interactive tour, relating these to methods of attack and defence and construction. Working in groups, use Tic-Tac (plastic construction materials) to build a successful bridge alongside castle walls, exploring how medieval engineers faced and solved the same problems. A second activity involves building a catapult and taking part in a bean-bag throwing challenge, identifying features of su

How to obtain

Call 01904 601917 to arrange a 2 hour session from June 22–24 2009. Price £60 per group of up to 30 pupils until April 2009, £75 per group after April 2009. Visit http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.19521 for more information.

The Fortress Castle Discovery Visit

Explore this hill-top fortress through dressing-up and role play. Travel back in time, looking for evidence in the remains to help discover key events and form conclusions about daily life for the castle's inhabitants. Artists' illustrations, photographs and role-play are used to explore how this castle changed over time. Knowledge and understanding of key events such as the English Civil War is placed in context and the lives of ordinary men and women are explored through object investigation. This session can be adapted to suit each key stage.
You can also combine this Discovery Visit with the 'Touching the Past'Discovery Visit also at Beeston Castle for what one student described as 'the

How to obtain

Call 01904 601917 to arrange a 45 minute session. Price £60 per group of up to 30 pupils until April 2009, £75 per group after April 2009. Visit http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.19521 for more information.

Touching the Past Discovery Visit

How can the past be pieced together? What materials are objects made from and what do they tell us? Explore what life was like at Beeston Castle from the Iron Age through to the present using real archaeological finds and handling and comparing different objects. Creative activities bring the objects to life, helping students to imagine how they might have been used in everyday life in the past. It will also help to develop understanding of the significance of Beeston Castle as a historical site, including archaeological evidence found at the site and changes over different time periods.
Duration: 3/4 to 1 3/4 hours
Key Stage: 1, 2, 3, History, Science, Literacy

How to obtain

Call 01904 601917 to arrange a session lasting 45 minutes or 1¼ hours. Price £60 per group of up to 30 pupils until April 2009, £75 per group after April 2009. Visit http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.19521 for more information.

 Paper-based and downloads

Beeston Castle Teacher's Kit (English Heritage)

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/Beeston_TK_20080227103233.pdf

A downloadable PDF containing FREE photocopiable teaching resource sheets for use in the classroom. They are essential for pre-, during and post-site visit work and include: site history, site plans & tour, documentary sources, activities, photos & reconstruction artwork, details of how to visit and supporting resources information.

Creator

  • English Heritage Education

How to obtain

Please click on the link to download the PDF

Beeston Castle
Tarporley
Cheshire
CW6 9TX
England

Website

Telephone

01829 260464

All information is supplied by the venues or providers themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.

Related teaching activities

Key stage 2 geography, 1 lesson

Geographical enquiry and skills

Why are castles located strategically? Look at maps of Beeston Castle and discuss whether the site is the best location for a defensible structure.

Key stage 2 geography, 1-2 lessons

Knowledge and understanding of places

An Iron Age hill fort once occupied the site where Beeston Castle was built. What are the main construction features of this type of structure and what were they used for?

Key stage 2 history, Small project

Organisation and communication

What is the significance of Beeston Castle as a historic site? Research this online and write a short report, using key events in history and examples of castles in England.

Key stage 2 maths, 1-2 lessons

Ma4 Data handling

Using Beeston Castle as a starting point, make a list of types of castle, compiling a pictorial chart to show the similarities and differences between the different types.

Key stage 2 maths, 1 lesson

Ma3 Shape, space and measure

A castle is a defensible structure. Using Beeston Castle as an example, work in small groups to discuss the best shapes for the construction of castles.