Castles, Knights & Dragons Pre-visit resources—teacher’s notes Background: imagine you are a Knight or maiden and you are go- ing to be visiting the Luttrell family at Dunster Castle. You will ride on your trusty steed and will need to have a shield with you to show that you are friend, not foe. You might want spend some time in class exploring further some of the history surrounding coats of arms, chivalry, jousting and the medieval times. Activities: Sir… (what would your Knightly or maiden name be?) Name your trusty steed Family motto Design a shield Sir/Lady… During the jousting activity, the session leader will ask each child for their name pre-fixed by a ‘Sir’ or ‘Lady’. The names are usually their normal Christian names but if they’d like to be more creative then that’s fine. Name your trusty steed A Knight or maiden would need to have a strong horse by his or her side, particularly if re- quired to participate in any jousting contests. Let the children think of a name (they might also like to think about how the horse would look and what it’s character might be) and note it down so they can remember it when they visit Dunster Castle. Family motto Most families would have a motto that would be cited on their family crest or shield. At Dun- ster, the Luttrell family motto is ‘Gained by strength, held by skill” Ask the children to think about what their family motto might be.