GRIMSTHORPE CASTLE
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Grimsthorpe has been the home of the de Eresby family since 1516, when it was granted by Henry VIII to the 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby on the occasion of his marriage to Maria de Salinas, kinswoman and lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon.
Grimsthorpe Park was the southern edge of the great Lincolnshire forest. Oak trees that had been recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 were growing in the park when drawings of the park were made in the early 18th century. Some of these ancient trees were still growing here in the 20th century Oaks were felled during the Tudor period for ship building and again during Cromwell’s ten year Commonwealth.
The oak trees you see today were planted after the restoration of the Stuart Monarchy, the straight ridings through the trees creating a formal park. The Four Mile Riding was a double planted oak avenue which ran from the castle to the boundary of the Park. The formal pattern of the ridings remains, though some have been replanted as chestnut avenues.
In the 18th century the open Vaudey became the ‘Foal Field Race’ with gallops for training the 3rd Duke of Ancaster’s racehorses. In the 1920s the Vaudey was used as a 9 hole golf course, and served as a bombing range during the Second World War. Nowadays the Vaudey is farmed. The Vaudey was once home to a grand Cistercian Abbey, the word Vaudey being derived from the French for ‘Valley of God’.
HERO Project: ‘CACHE POINTS’
Through guidance from the Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castle Trust and the subsequent Focus Group there developed the beginnings of a resource which aims to innovatively merge fulfil many of the National Curriculum’s requirements for Education for Sustainable development whilst offering further opportunities across and beyond the curriculum.
‘CACHE POINTS’ enables children to explore and enjoy the vast expanse of Grimsthorpe Park, promoting the great outdoors and exercise. The fact that activities take place exclusively outdoors makes ‘Cache Points’ a unique constituent of the HERO Project.
Resources for activities are placed in a cache and at the relevant ‘cache point’. The identified ‘cache points’ are
- Pots and Pans disused quarry
The quarries on the estate enabled the building of the castle, the subsequent house and previously the Vaudey Abbey. Stone is still quarried on the estate to this day.
- Steels Riding / Deer Park
It is said that Henry VIII hunted on the Grimsthorpe Estate. The nature and habitats within Steels Riding lend themselves to activities relating to countryside management and conservation within a historical context.
- Vaudey Abbey
The site of the Cistercian abbey inspires historical investigation, role-play, debate and a spiritual education.
- The Lakeside
The lakeside was the scene of the accident that killed Thomas Linley, a contemporary of Mozart. The lake is surrounded by interesting habitats and is an interesting area to study Man’s impact on the environment and continuity and change.
Each Cache Point has stories related to it, both fictional on factual and aim to promote imaginative learning through play and creative learning.
The caches’ contents include artefacts and objects related to each site and have significant relevance across the curriculum, including:
- Geography
- History
- Technology
- Numeracy
- PSHE
- Citizenship
- Religious Studies
- Science
- Art and design
Education for Sustainable Development has been identified as a cross-curricula topic for inclusion by the Qualification and Curriculum Authority’s Schemes of work and this resource offers an ideal opportunity to support this area.
