Points West – The world’s biggest trebuchet

Our work on TV has often featured the unusual including the castaway pods on the Scottish island of Taransay where the transportation of the frames and indeed heavy lifting was done by helicopter!

Our work has featured no fewer than three times on Channel 4’s Grand Designs.

Channel

BBC

More information

Andy Parker
Hall Farm
Thickwood Lane
Colerne, Chippenham
Wiltshire
SN14 8BE
United Kingdom

Tel: 01225 743089
E-mail Andy Parker

Weighing 22 tonnes and standing 18m tall the Warwick Castle trebuchet is the largest in the world.  The design for the Castle’s machine comes from Dr Peter Vemming from The Mediaeval Centre in Nykobing, Denmark. Dr Vemming completed his first construction of the mediaeval trebuchet in 1989, following extensive research and preparation. Notes and drawings from the 13th century were used as the starting point for the reconstruction and were often referred to during the long process of developing the working replica of this powerful and accurate machine.

The world's largest trebuchet, at Warwick Castle

Carpenter Oak & Woodland's timber engineering division was contracted to manufacture the medieval war machine because of its expertise in the design and fabrication of unusual structures - as it happens, the Company had already built several before!  While the construction of the machine itself was reasonably straightforward, more problematic was the erection on site.  Normally a structure of this size would be hoisted into place by a crane, but because of the site conditions, the trebuchet had to be raised by hand using prehistoric methods: timber a-frames, capstans and rope as well as lots of strong bodies! 

Go to the Warwick Castle trebuchet Web site.