Upper Beeding children go into battle

Pupils from years three and four learned about history first hand by staging the Battle of Bosworth on the field at the School Road site.

Undeterred by the snow that still lay on the ground, the children, aged from seven to nine, carried shields and swords they had made themselves.

Teacher Laura Whitman told the Herald the Battle of Bosworth was always a great event, where they actually do re-enact the battle, and the children love it.

Before the big day, the children prepared armour and weapons, ready to do battle. There were various helmets and headgear, swords and axes, bows and arrows, shields and banners for each side in the battle.

Then, on Tuesday, January 22, the children found themselves back in 1485, fighting alongside Henry Tudor and Richard II for the crown of England.

The battle was part of this term’s project for lower key stage two children, on The Terrific Tudors.

“We, of course, had to start at the beginning with the War of the Roses, which led to the Battle of Bosworth, where King Richard III was defeated and Henry Tudor was crowned king,” explained Miss Whitman.

“The children were assigned to either the House of York or the House of Lancaster.

“They spent the morning in camp, preparing for battle – designing flags, armour and emblems. Then in the afternoon, the two sides went to battle.”

The battle began with marching, then speeches (written by the children) were read out by King Richard III (Tom Hazel), Henry Tudor (Callum Still) and Lord Stanley (Cameron Stevens), amongst others.

Miss Whitman continued: “All the children re-enacted the battle brilliantly, using the weapons they had made for homework. Many classes from the school came out to the field to watch.”