Castell Coch
Walls & Well Tower worksheet
Teacher instructions & information
Please divide your pupils into 5 groups of
2-3 pupils. Give each group a copy of the
quiz with clipboard and pencil.
Some questions have simple answers
which the children will find easily, some
may involve reasoning and discussion and
may need you to prompt this discussion
– these questions are in red on the
teacher version of the quiz.
Go into the well tower, through the
double doors to the left of the ticket
office.
WELL TOWER – ground floor
Look at the mystery object on the
floor to the left of the stairs.
What do you think this was used for?
This equipment brings water up into
this room from the castle well.
Servants turned the handle and the
water came out of the pump. It was
carried to the kitchens and some
bedrooms in wooden buckets.
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The pupil worksheets do not give
the pupils directions for where to
go next, when they have completed the
questions for each location. Directions
are in green on this version of the
worksheet, to ensure teachers can lead
pupils to the next location when they
have finished working in each room.
Go up the stairs, to the next floor, and
into the exhibition room.
There are 5 sets of questions related
to the exhibition, and five versions of
the pupil worksheets, so each group of
pupils should start in a different place
and rotate around the room, but all
pupils will have answered the same
questions by the end of this section.
You may need to show each group of
pupils where they start.
EXHIBITION ROOM
You will find the answers to these
questions on the picture boards on
the walls by the window, next to the
fireplace.
What colour are the wings of the
angels?
Green, with gold highlights
Which musical instrument is Sapphire
playing?
The triangle
You will find the answers to these
questions on the picture boards on
the wall to the right of the fireplace.
Look at the picture of the 3 Fates, and
the three heads under their feet.
Who spins the thread of life?
Clotho
Who measures the thread of life?
Lachesis
Who cuts the thread of life?
You will find the answers to these
questions by looking at the model of
the castle, in the middle of the room.
How many chimneys does the castle
have?
18
Why do you think the castle needs so
many chimneys?
Each fireplace needs a chimney,
although the same chimney can be
used by more than one fireplace. 18
chimneys means there are at least 18
fireplaces in the castle.
Atropos
What do the 3 heads below their feet
stand for?
The 3 ages of man
(childhood, adulthood, old age)
You will find the answers to these
questions on the picture boards on the
walls by the window, next to the door
you used to come into the room.
Find the shield. Which colours are on
the background of the shield?
Red & blue
Which animal is on the shield?
Lion
2
Which museum looks after the bed,
Yatman cabinet and wash-hand-stand
furniture shown in the photographs?
Victoria & Albert Museum
You will find the answers to these
questions on the set of 3 tall picture
boards.
Who built the original medieval
castle?
Gilbert de Clare
Who built the Victorian castle?
3rd Marquis of Bute & William Burges
You will find the answer to this
question on the tall picture board
opposite the fireplace.
When was the castle destroyed and
left as a ruin?
C15th
Leave the exhibition room by the
door nearest to the fireplace. Go up
one flight of stairs, past the red door,
to the Hunt Room.
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HUNT ROOM
You will find the answers to these
questions on the picture boards on
the wall.
In which year was the vineyard
planted?
1875
How many bottles of wine were
produced in 1887?
3600
Why do you think this room is called
the hunt room?
The Pentyrch hunt used to meet here
What colour jackets do the huntsmen
wear?
Brown
Leave the hunt room and climb the
stairs until you reach the top of the
tower.
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CHAPEL EXHIBITION ROOM
You will find the answers to these
questions in the coloured glass
pictures
Which saint has red shoes, and carries
a chain?
St Ninian
Which saint has a dove on his
shoulder?
St David
Which saint is holding a feather?
St Winifrede
What is St Gabriel carrying?
Lily/flower
What colour is the stripe above St
Raphael’s name?
Red
You will find the answers to these
questions in the picture board which
shows old photographs of the castle
Castell Coch once had a chapel, but
it was taken away a few years after
being built. Look at the photograph of
the castle, which shows the chapel on
the tower.
Which year was the photograph taken
in?
1878
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Which company made the chapel’s
glass window panels?
W G Saunders and Company
How much did the stained glass panels
cost?
£62.0s.0d
From the chapel exhibition, go down
to the bottom of the stairs, and
through the door on the left, onto the
balcony.
Turn right, and walk around the
balcony, until you can see the tower
you have just come from.
BALCONY
Look at the walls. Can you find two
square ‘holes’ in one wall?
What letter is on the metal ‘flag’ on
top of the roof of the tower?
What do you think these are for?
B
What do you think the letter on the
flag represents?
B is for Bute
Walk back to the tower, through the
exhibition room, and down the stairs
until you reach the ground floor room
with the water pump. Go through
doors, then turn left before the
courtyard and go down the stairs into
the dungeon.
DUNGEON
Once everybody’s eyes have adjusted,
ask children to look carefully at the
walls.
Look at the square holes where the
walls meet the ceiling, at each end of
the dungeon.
What do you think they are for?
The holes allow a little light into the
dungeon.
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The holes are for putting lanterns in,
so that a rich prisoner could pay to
have light in the dungeon.
Take pupils back upstairs and walk
into the courtyard.
COURTYARD
Castell Coch – as we see it today – is
a Victorian castle, built on top of the
ruins of a 700 year old castle. The
Victorian castle builders wanted the
outside of their new castle to look
as much like a medieval castle as
possible, so they included things which
a medieval castle would have had.
Why do you think the courtyard floor
has been covered with stones laid so
that their edges make a floor with
ridges?
Castle courtyards were built with
ridges or cobbles, so that horses
didn’t slide around if they rode into
the castle at speed and needed
to stop quickly without injuring
themselves or their riders.
Walk from courtyard into castle
gatehouse.
GATEHOUSE
Look up at the gatehouse ceiling.
What are the holes in the ceiling for?
The holes are called murder holes.
In medieval times, people dropped
heavy stones, hot sand, boiling water,
or the contents of chamber pots and
buckets onto any enemies who were
foolish enough to stand under the
murder holes.
Stand at the top of the drawbridge,
and look up at the castle, above the
entrance.
There is a wooden structure on the
castle wall. It is painted red. What do
you think it was used for?
It is a fighting platform, which
gave archers and crossbowmen
somewhere to hide while they were
shooting arrows and crossbow bolts
at the enemy.
Return to castle courtyard.
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© Crown copyright 2015
WG24488