We looked at the local landmark of Saltwood Castle as part of the project. We created beautiful drawings of the building and the peacocks roaming around the gardens. We can see the castle from our school playground!
Saltwood Castle is really old, dating back to year 488! In 1023, the King of England - King Canute, gave the castle to the church. Since then the castle has been the home to many priests, archbishops, nobleman, commanders and now it is a private home to a famous author and politician!
You can see photos of Saltwood Castle and find out more about the castle on this link
We found out more about King Canute. We don't know alot about how he looked but we know that.....
....he was really tall King
and that he had hair with body (sounds like a shampoo advert!)
and most notably he had a thin nose, slightly hooked!
.. and he was one of the first Kings of England, although he was Danish!
There is a famous story about King Canute and how he demanded the sea tide from coming up the shore. Here is a poem that we read in our workshop.
There once was an old king called King Canute,
And he was a very bossy old brute.
“Bring me my crown, and hurry!” he would say,
He told everyone what to do all day.
He said to the queen “I like being the king
And being in charge of everything.”
The queen looked at King Canute, and she laughed.
She said “Not everything, don’t be daft.
You couldn’t command the wind not to blow,
You couldn’t command a tree not to grow.
You’re not in charge of the birds or the bees,
The sun or the moon, the skies or the seas.
“Oh yes I am” said the King, getting cross
“I am, I’ll prove it; I’ll show you who’s boss!”
He called the servants together and then
He bellowed out an order to his men:
"Pick up my throne and take it to the beach,
There is a lesson that I want to teach.”
So they carried his throne down to the ocean
Followed by crowds, there was quite a commotion.
Canute sat on the throne facing the sea
And spoke to it with great authority.
“I am your king and I give this command -
Stay where you are, do not come on this sand”
But the sea didn’t listen to the king.
No-one can stop the tide from coming in.
As the waves kept advancing up the shore
The red-faced king tried to halt them once more.
“I am the King, you must do as I say,
I command you to go back, right away.”
But the waves still came, right up to his feet.
Canute sighed sadly, admitting defeat.
He faced the queen and said “You won the bet
And I have got my royal slippers wet.
I did my best, but no, I came up short.
I guess I’m not as powerful as I thought.”
Poem by http://www.history-for-kids.com
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