THE KNIGHTS of Royal England invaded Hedingham Castle for a spectacular Bank Holiday jousting tournament.

Thousands of spectators watched the champions ride into battle at the second jousting event in Castle Hedingham this year.

Children got the honour of climbing into the ring to practice their sword skills and families wandered the grounds of the 900- year-old keep to enjoy puppetry from the Dragons of Wye-ten Puppet Theatre, donkey rides and dancing.

The Norfolk Longbowmen were on hand to offer archery lessons, children learnt how to dance around a traditional May Pole and the Tudor Roses gave an entertaining history of Tudor clothing.

Simon Orr, general manager at the castle, said the atmosphere was “phenomenal”.

He added: “It has been a great couple of days. The knights put on a fantastic show with lots of action, falling off horses, lances splintering on heads and acting out fist fights – it was great fun.

“We had an awful lot of children come along and the best thing is you can spend five or six hours here and you still haven’t seen everything.”

Hedingham Castle was the home of the De Vere family, who lived there for more than five centuries, and hosted numerous royal visitors, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

The venue is now completely self-funding and all proceeds from the jousting will go into the upkeep of the castle.