Home > Siege Machines

Siege machines were developed in the 13th century to attack the solid Castle walls. As the defences of Castles improved so did the weapons of attack and siege machines were developed to attack the solid Castle walls. The trebuchet was the largest and most formidable of the siege machines and was, in essence, a huge catapult.

The trebuchet was used to fire huge projectiles to breach the Castle walls. Large rocks and stones were the main ammunition but there is evidence of more unusual material. Manure and dead animals were also hurled by the machines into the besieged Castle to spread disease – pigs were the animal of choice as they were thought to be more aerodynamic!

See the world's largest trebuchet at Warwick Castle. Measuring 18 metres high and weighing in at 22 tonnes, see this massive machine in action from April 2006.

How Trebuchets Work

Two people walk in each wheel and in turn wind the rope around the windlass and pull back the throwing arm.

Once the arm is pulled fully back it is held in place with a latch mechanism.  At one end of the arm there is the ballast box (weighing up to 5 tonnes) and at the other the sling containing the ammunition.

To fire, the latch is released and the ballast box descends very quickly. The arm is then flung up into the air. 

On the end of the arm is the sling with one end of rope permanently attached; the other is hooked over a curved iron pin.  As the arm lifts the rope becomes unhooked and the projectile is released  and fired up to 30m in the air and a distance of up to 300m.

Links

To learn more about Trebuchets and other siege machines take a look at these links. Note: Warwick Castle is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

• Mediaeval Centre (website of the designer of the Warwick Trebuchet )
• Read about Trebuchets on Wikipedia
• The Grey Company Trebuchet Site
• Nova Online Mediaeval Siege

STOP PRESS: See Timelapse Footage of the Warwick Trebuchet being built!