From the BBC Website, 30th May 2005
World's largest catapult planned
A 22-tonne wooden catapult, which is said to be the world's largest, is to be installed at an historic castle and fired daily during the summer.
The machine will be built in Wiltshire from 28 tonnes of British oak and then transported in 300 pieces to Warwick Castle where it will be reassembled.
It will be capable of sending missiles 25 metres (82ft) into the air and up to 300 metres (328 yards) along. Eight men are needed to load the replica, which will take 30 minutes.
Catapults were the principal siege weapon of attack from the 13th to the 15th century. The machine - which would have been used to aim missiles at defensive walls and throw huge projectiles over fortifications - stands 18 metres (59ft) high and is capable of firing up to 150kg (330lb) of ammunition at a time. It will sit beside the River Avon which runs below the castle.
"These machines are incredible pieces of engineering and it is really something to see them in motion," said medieval weapons expert Dr Peter Vemming who designed it.
Ready in July
"As well as being the biggest in the world, the setting of the Warwick trebuchet makes it doubly unique. To witness a full-scale medieval trebuchet in action is incredible in itself. To witness a machine of this magnitude in an authentic medieval setting, with the castle as a backdrop, will be very special."
The trebuchet - which would have been dismantled regularly and transported in lengthy convoys of carts to the next siege in medieval times - is due to arrive at the castle in June and be ready for use in July.
Full Version: World's Largest Trebuchet
This I would like to see more of!
I'll keep looking for articles in the upcoming months, Thanks!!
I'll keep looking for articles in the upcoming months, Thanks!!
too kewl! Looks like a blast, too bad they wouldn't let anyone else play with it. 
I personally think they should launch the world's biggest watermelon from it. 
Precisely, Andrew.. 
HMMM just wondering how far a vw would go it is round and some what arrow dynamic
we could paint it like a watermelon
we could paint it like a watermelon
...and they wouldn't be cleaning out vines for years from the spread of seeds. Though suppose the bits of a vw would be hard on a cow or sheep who ingested pieces... 
But spreading the seeds would insure a new crop of missiles next year, a renewable weapon of mashed destruction!
From Warwick Today, 29th March 2006
Final rehearsals for the new trebuchet exhibition at Warwick Castle got underway this week. The trebuchet is an 18-metre tall catapult weighing 22 tonnes and is the biggest siege machine of its kind anywhere in the world. It will be fired twice a day from April 1 until October 29.
Final rehearsals for the new trebuchet exhibition at Warwick Castle got underway this week. The trebuchet is an 18-metre tall catapult weighing 22 tonnes and is the biggest siege machine of its kind anywhere in the world. It will be fired twice a day from April 1 until October 29.
Who's the target?
What are they fireing?
From IC-Coventry, 22nd August 2006
Ursa hurls its way into record books
Warwick Castle's most fearsome female has finally entered the record books after demonstrating her awesome power. Ursa, a medieval catapult known as a trebuchet, flung a boulder weighing more than 13 kilogrammes a distance of 228 metres. The weapon, which stands 60ft tall and weighs 22 tonnes, proved its power in front of 2,000 people at Warwick Castle yesterday.
The trebuchet master or magistria tormentorum - master of torment - and staff at the castle loaded the mighty machine with a concrete boulder and released the throwing arm. The successful record attempt was watched by an official from the Guinness Book of Records who certified Warwick Castle's trebuchet as the most powerful of its type in the world.
Trebuchet master Nick Glew, aged 35, said: "It was excellent. We were fairly confident of breaking the record because we have thrown an average of 230 and 250 metres with the 13.5kg boulder. The only thing was the weather. We have been having some terrible storms at the moment and the trebuchet doesn't work well in the wet, so it was a relief when we succeeded."
The trebuchet was used between warring factions between the 13th and 15th centuries. Attackers used it to make life as uncomfortable as possible for those under siege by hurling any manner of projectiles, including dead animals (to spread disease), prisoners, bees' nests, quicklime and manure. Between wars, the trebuchet was dismantled and transported in lengthy convoys of carts to the next siege.
The Warwick Castle model was built by master craftsmen from 28 tonnes of British oak. It was transported to Warwick Castle in 300 pieces on three lorries and then rebuilt.
Before the record attempt, a bucket on the war machine was filled with 4.5 tonnes of boulders to act as a counterweight for the throwing arm. A team of men winched the trebuchet's huge arm up in the air before pulling the trigger.
Record book officials multiplied the weight of the boulder by the distance it was thrown, before declaring Ursa a record breaker, smashing the record previously held by a machine in Denmark.
Mr Glew added: "We are sure we can throw further and there is space to put another 4½ tonnes in the loading mechanism. So if anybody does try to beat our record, we will be more than happy to challenge them!"
Ursa hurls its way into record books
Warwick Castle's most fearsome female has finally entered the record books after demonstrating her awesome power. Ursa, a medieval catapult known as a trebuchet, flung a boulder weighing more than 13 kilogrammes a distance of 228 metres. The weapon, which stands 60ft tall and weighs 22 tonnes, proved its power in front of 2,000 people at Warwick Castle yesterday.
The trebuchet master or magistria tormentorum - master of torment - and staff at the castle loaded the mighty machine with a concrete boulder and released the throwing arm. The successful record attempt was watched by an official from the Guinness Book of Records who certified Warwick Castle's trebuchet as the most powerful of its type in the world.
Trebuchet master Nick Glew, aged 35, said: "It was excellent. We were fairly confident of breaking the record because we have thrown an average of 230 and 250 metres with the 13.5kg boulder. The only thing was the weather. We have been having some terrible storms at the moment and the trebuchet doesn't work well in the wet, so it was a relief when we succeeded."
The trebuchet was used between warring factions between the 13th and 15th centuries. Attackers used it to make life as uncomfortable as possible for those under siege by hurling any manner of projectiles, including dead animals (to spread disease), prisoners, bees' nests, quicklime and manure. Between wars, the trebuchet was dismantled and transported in lengthy convoys of carts to the next siege.
The Warwick Castle model was built by master craftsmen from 28 tonnes of British oak. It was transported to Warwick Castle in 300 pieces on three lorries and then rebuilt.
Before the record attempt, a bucket on the war machine was filled with 4.5 tonnes of boulders to act as a counterweight for the throwing arm. A team of men winched the trebuchet's huge arm up in the air before pulling the trigger.
Record book officials multiplied the weight of the boulder by the distance it was thrown, before declaring Ursa a record breaker, smashing the record previously held by a machine in Denmark.
Mr Glew added: "We are sure we can throw further and there is space to put another 4½ tonnes in the loading mechanism. So if anybody does try to beat our record, we will be more than happy to challenge them!"
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