Warwick Castle and the Trebuchet

On our last morning with Roger and Helen we visited Warwick Castle, one of the best preserved medieval castles in the World, sporting the latest in 14th century defensive architecture. Best preserved comes at a significant cost; £6,000,000 is assigned to annual building maintenance.

The castle was used as a stronghold until the early 17th century, when it was granted to Sir Fulke Greville by James I in 1604. The Greville family, who became Earls of Warwick in 1759, lived in the castle until 1978 when it was bought by Merlin Entertainments, the current owner. The castle does have the feel of a theme park with the grounds and buildings in immaculate condition.

The displays of longbow archery, the firing of a full sized replica trebuchet and visit to the private rooms, complete with the Grenville family art and armoury collection, were well worth the entry fee.

Warwick Castle is known for having the largest working replica trebuchet in the World. Built to a set of original plans, the trebuchet features twin treadmills, an adaption from medieval cathedral construction cranes, allowing four men to lower the arm and raise the counterweight ready for firing in three minutes. When released, the trebuchet uses a falling 6 tonne counterweight to lift an 80 kg concrete ball and hurl it well over 200 metres.

In discussion with the operator after the demonstration, Roger and I learnt that trebuchets of this type were extremely costly to build, transport and erect, equating to the cost of a high defensive tower of the type used in Warwick Castle. As a result, an attacking group had to confident in the success of any offensive operation, as loss of a trebuchet to an enemy would be a significant risk.