Year 7 have studied the causes of the English Civil War, focusing on the growing mistrust of the king and his refusal to obey the law. Pupils discovered examples of families and friends being divided by the conflict, even meeting on the battlefield as a result of their own choice of which side to fight for. Finally, we discussed how to load a Civil War musket and handled real musket balls fired during Oliver Cromwell’s siege of Mountfitchet Castle.