FREE Trips available!

Portchester Castle

English Heritage School Trips

Why book 'Portchester Castle' with English Heritage for School Trips and Educational Visits?

With 1700 years of history, Portchester Castle covers everything from the Romans, to medieval kings, all the way to the Napoleonic Wars. Follow in their footsteps and explore its exciting and varied history.

Portchester Castle covers multiple time periods within the history curriculum, as well as cross-curricular links across numerous subjects.

KS1 History: Identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different time periods; significant historical events, people and places in their own locality

KS2 History: The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain. Britain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots. A study of an aspect or theme in British history that extends the pupils' chronological knowledge beyond 1066

KS2-3 History: A local history study

KS3 History: The development of church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509. Ideas, political power, industry & empire: Britain 1745-1901: the French Revolutionary wars & Napoloeonic wars

KS4 History: GCSE OCR Spec B: History Around Us

Teacher Checklist

Risk Assessments
Inspection Visits
Free Places for Teachers
Free Places for Students
Resource Packs

What activities are available during group visits?

Enjoy a free self-led visit to Portchester Castle and design your own day to suit your curriculum needs. Walk within the Roman walls, explore the ruins of Richard II's Palace and stand at the top of the Great Tower to survey the landscape. Discover the more recent history of the castle as a prison during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, when it housed up to 8,000 prisoners at any one time, including black and mixed race prisoners from the Caribbean.

Immerse your class in the history of Portchester Castle. Our costumed re-enactors will lead your pupils on a hands-on Discovery Visit. At just £100 per session, they're a great way to delve deeper into the history of the castle and the people who lived there. Our Discovery Visits have been adapted to follow health and safety guidelines and will still offer your students a quality and fun learning experience.

You can also download our free teaching resources to help support learning before, during and after your visit.

Which Curriculum Subjects do you cater for?

Romans

Romanisation and ways of life

Portchester Castle’s remarkable history begins in the 3rd century AD when the Romans built a vast fort here. Spend your Romans school trip walking within the Roman walls and stand at the top of the Great Tower to survey the landscape.

Medieval

Medieval Society and Feudalism Norman Conquest Religion and Crusades Castles

Explore the ruins of Richard II's Palace and stand at the top of the Great Tower to survey the landscape. Take your pupils on a historical journey back in time with our costumed interpreters to explore the history and significance of Portchester Castle. Through storytelling and an interactive tour of the castle, they’ll discover why the castle was built, who lived and worked there, how Richard II and Edward III defended it and how they enjoyed a luxury lifestyle fit for kings!

Citizenship topics: Crime and Punishment.

Black History

Tudors topics: Civil War.

What size groups do you cater for?

There are generally no limits to the size of education group, provided the group meets our ratios for leaders to learners. Our Discovery Visit workshops are suitable for groups of up to 30. Please see our school visit terms and conditions on our website for further details.

Do you offer on-site classroom facilities?

Many of our sites have education rooms that can be booked. Please check the relevant schools property page before making a booking.

Is there first aid on site?

Yes.

Do you offer access for visitors with disabilities?

Yes – please see our website for further details.

Do you cater for visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)?

Our facilities have been designed to be as accessible as possible in order to meet the different needs of our visitors. A summary of the facilities provided can be found on our schools property pages. If you or anyone in your group has particular access needs, please let us know at the point of booking or get in touch with our bookings team before you visit. Please note that some facilities may require booking in advance.

Who are English Heritage?

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, from Roman forts on the edges of the empire to a Cold War bunker. Through these, we bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year, over 300,000 of whom are education visitors.
We’re the largest heritage provider of school trips and provide a wealth of free educational resources, alongside expert-led, paid-for workshops for KS1-4. The high-quality of our education provision has been recognised most recently with a number of Sandford awards. Caring for our places and their collections, for the benefit of this and future generations is a cornerstone of everything we do.
We are a charity, no. 1140351, and a company, no. 07447221, registered in Engl