Zamek Dirleton, Scottish guides, Historic Investigations
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Dirleton Castle
was home
to three different families
over the course of four
hundred years: the de
Vauxs, the Halyburtons
and the Ruthvens.
INVESTIGATING
DIRLETON CASTLE
Information for Teachers
INVESTIGATING
HISTORIC SITES
DIRLETON CASTLE
2
Timeline
c.1160
de Vaux family
acquire estate of Dirleton
Dirleton Castle was home to
three different families over the
course of four hundred years: the
de Vauxs, the Halyburtons and
the Ruthvens. Each family left its
mark and, though now in ruins,
the castle remains an exciting
and rewarding place to explore
medieval life.
castle to their own design. Most
signiicant was the new east wing,
incorporating an impressive Great Hall,
capacious vaults and a block of private
apartments to replace the cramped
quarters in the de Vaux towers.
c.1220
New castle begun
1298-1314
Castle under
siege by Edward I’s forces;
changes hands between
English and Scots several
times
In 1505 the castle changed hands, again
through marriage. Its new owners were
the ambitious and powerful Ruthvens,
involved in many of the key events
of the sixteenth century. When not
plotting political intrigue, the Ruthvens
found time to remodel the castle a third
time, building an elegant and gracious
house adjoining the de Vaux tower. The
fourth Lord Ruthven, the irst Earl of
Gowrie, had a keen interest in gardens
and it is under the Ruthvens that the
gorgeous gardens at Dirleton irst
started to lourish.
post-1314
Castle partly
demolished
Historical background
There are three distinct phases of
building at Dirleton Castle. The irst
castle was started in the early thirteenth
century by the de Vaux family, originally
from Normandy. John de Vaux became
the steward to Alexander II’s Queen
Marie de Coucy and the round towers of
the irst castle may have been modelled
on her father’s French chateau at Coucy,
near Amiens.
c.1350
Castle passes to
Halyburton family
c.1450
Halyburtons
rebuild castle including
east wing
1505
Castle passes to
Ruthven family
mid-1500s
New house
built within close;
gardens remodelled and
developed; dovecot built
Involved in one plot too many, in 1600
the third Earl of Gowrie was killed
during an attempted royal coup and
as punishment the family forfeited the
castle and lands.
The ive-towered castle, perched on
top of a rocky knoll and given extra
height by the deep ditch surrounding
it, must have been a magniicent sight.
A high curtain wall protected the living
quarters of Lord and Lady de Vaux
and enclosed the multitude of castle
workers .
1600
Ruthvens forced to
leave Dirleton
1650
Castle partly
demolished following
attack by Cromwell’s
troops
Following Cromwell’s invasion in
1650, the castle, one of the bases for
resistance, was besieged by 1600 men.
The castle was taken, and again partially
demolished. After a brief stint as a ield
hospital the castle was never inhabited
again. The Nisbet family bought the
estate in 1663 but built themselves
a new home in nearby Archerield.
From the late 1700s the castle gardens
were developed, with the castle itself
as an elaborate garden ornament. The
gardens continued to be developed
in Victorian times and into the 1920s
when the castle was taken into state
care.
1663
Nisbet family buys
Dirleton estate; builds
and lives in nearby
Archerield; develops
castle gardens
The formidable defences were tested
with the Wars of Independence when
the castle was besieged by the forces of
Edward I of England. It changed hands
several times until, following the victory
of the Scots in 1314, Robert the Bruce
ordered the demolition of the castle
to prevent it ever being used against
the Scots again. However, signiicant
portions of this early castle survive.
1923
Castle taken into
state care
.
Dirleton passed by marriage to the
Halyburton family in about 1350. In
time they rebuilt the battle-scarred
Dirleton Castle from the
bowling green
HISTORIC SCOTLAND
EDUCATION
DIRLETON CASTLE
3
Supporting learning
and teaching
A visit to Direlton Castle is
particularly appropriate for
teachers working on class
study topics such as:
Before the visit:
Working on site
• Help pupils gain a clearer grasp of
the time scale by making a time
line with them, counting back the
centuries and then marking on key
events. It may help to identify the
different periods of construction by
the different families. This could be
added to after the visit.
When exploring the castle, pupils
should be encouraged to look critically
at what they see, and to make and test
theories based on physical evidence.
Useful starting points are:
• The Middle Ages
• Castles
The
Curriculum for
Excellence
aspires to
motivate and challenge pupils
through a wide range of
varied learning experiences.
Site visits have a particular
role to play in joining up
learning outcomes across the
curriculum. A visit, and use of
the supporting materials, will
help to:
• Why do you think the castle was built
here? What are its natural defences?
• What evidence is there for everyday
life ( eg eating, heating, toilets and
washing)?
• Discuss the organisation of
life in a castle. Pupils could
investigate the roles of these key
‘managers’:
steward
(household
staff);
constable
(security and
defence); marshal (transport and
communications),
chaplain
(writing
and spiritual matters).
• What evidence is there to tell us
about the owners of the castle?
• How has the castle changed over the
years?
• develop successful
learners
by challenging
pupils to consider how life
has changed for people.
It will help them to think
critically about evidence
and arrive at their own
conclusions.
Pupils can record evidence by taking
notes, sketching, taking photographs,
recording impressions into a tape
recorder.
• Discuss with pupils all the different
activities which would have gone
on in a castle. Pupils could research
different topics (e.g. food, travel,
entertainment, weapons) to prepare
them for the visit.
On the Historic Scotland website:
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/
education_unit
teachers can ind
additional resources to help with work
on site. These include compiling an
Evidence Record
and a
My Impressions
Record
.
• develop conident
individuals.
Pupils wilI
learn about aspects of their
community’s past, develop
an understanding of social
changes, establish some
of their own values and
communicate their views
on different historical and
social issues.
• It is helpful if pupils have some of
the architectural terminology of
castles as this makes discussing
on site easier. Useful words might
include:
courtyard, chamber,
drawbridge, portcullis, dovecot, shield,
archway, gun loop, turnpike stair,
battlement, curtain wall, beam
. Pupils
could produce a class illustrated
dictionary to explain these terms
Suggestions for follow-up work
Following the visit pupils can pool their
indings in groups to create a fuller
record of the castle and the lives of the
people who lived and worked there.
This could form the basis for a range of
presentation activities, for example:
• develop responsible
citizens.
It will help to
increase pupils’ social
and historical knowledge
and understanding and
encourage greater respect
for their own historic and
built environment.
• Some children ind it hard to
imagine that a castle was ever
anything other than a ruin. Discuss
how wind and weather can affect
the look of a building as well as the
deliberate changes that people
choose to make to buildings.
• A guide book or promotional lealet
for future visitors
• develop effective
contributors
by broadening
pupils’ knowledge and
understanding through
investigative, creative and
critical thinking.
• A slide show with commentary of
their visit
• There is plenty of good evidence
on site relating to defending and
attacking castles. Discuss with pupils
the range of ways that castles could
be attacked and defended.
• Imaginative writing based on the
lives of the inhabitants or attackers of
the castle
• A series of drama sketches showing
different snapshots of life in the
castle through the ages
HISTORIC SCOTLAND
EDUCATION
DIRLETON CASTLE
4
Plan of the Dirleton Castles
On the trail of the
Dirleton Castle
Our suggested tour
route guides you and
your pupils around the
complex site at Dirleton
and helps you to make
sense of the different
ruins remaining from
different ages. The route
is broadly chronological,
but it doesn’t really
matter if you do it in a
different order.
After checking in with the
steward we suggest you
visit nine key locations,
marked on the plan to
the right:
1. Outside Dirleton
Castle
2. The Drawbridge and
Gatehouse
3. The Lord’s Hall and
Withdrawing Room
4. The Halyburton Great
Hall
5. The Kitchens
6. The Bakehouse and
Vaults
7. The Prison and Pit
8. The Ruthven Lodgings
9. The Dovecot
Background information
is given in the pack
for each location. It
is written in simple
language so that it can
be read aloud to pupils
if desired. Also included
are suggested questions
for discussion.The focus
is on encouraging pupils
to interpret the building
and deduce what they
can from clues they see
around them. Allow
about an hour.
4
5
3b
9
3a
7
6b
8
6a
2b
1
2
Note: the current steward has a model of the castle as it might have looked in 1450
which he is happy to show to pupils.
HISTORIC SCOTLAND
EDUCATION
DIRLETON CASTLE
5
Did you know...
Tour notes: On the trail of
Dirleton Castle
From the steward’s ofice, go through into the gardens. Walk round the bowling
green and up the middle path to the castle. Turn right and go to the corner of the
castle, where a tongue of rock juts out on to the grass.
If you look out to sea you
might be able to see the
Isle of Fidra. This used to
belong to the de Vaux
family too. Historians
think that they might
have had their irst castle
on the island. Handy if
you like swimming!
Location 1 : Outside Dirleton Castle
Background information for teachers. This can be read to pupils.
• This castle is more than 700 years old. It is one of the oldest castles in Scotland.
It was built by three different families – the de Vauxs, the Halyburtons and the
Ruthvens. They each added new parts to it. It was attacked by lots of different sets
of people at different times in its history.
• The irst family to build a castle here was the de Vaux family. They chose this place
because of the rock.
Look around – can you see the rock?
The castle had to be built
in the shape of the rock.
• The de Vauxs also dug a huge ditch all around the castle. Some of it has been illed
in, but you can still see part of it by the bridge. The ditch might have had water in
it.
Corner of castle with towers
• The irst castle was surrounded by a high wall, called a curtain wall.
Can you see
the steps leading down to the garden?
The steps were added much later, but at
the top of the steps you can see part of the old wall. It stretched right round the
whole castle.
• The castle used to have ive towers.
How many of them can you see now?
Later
on if you have time you can walk round the whole castle and see if you can ind
the remains of all ive of them. Some of the original towers were round –
can you
work out which ones?
Teacher prompts
Desired pupil responses
Why was it such a good idea to build a castle
Higher – able to see people
on rock?
coming; harder to attack
Dificult for attackers to burrow
under walls.
Look at the round tower on the corner.
You can see in every direction
It’s called a
donjon
. It used to be even higher.
very clearly – the enemy can’t
What is good about having a tower
hide round the corners.
Donjon tower
which is round?
Why do you think the bottom of the donjon
For strength
is wider than the top?
Also if you dropped something
from the top of the tower it
would bounce out on to the
enemy
HISTORIC SCOTLAND
EDUCATION
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