The Lower Sixth students spent the afternoon at the Gothic castle, Strawberry Hill House, as part of their revision of the novel, Frankenstein. The afternoon focused on the work of Horace Walpole, author of the first English gothic novel, who built the castle as a labour of love, flying in the face of social convention and fashionability as he brought to life a medieval style in the midst of the Georgian era. The students had great fun experiencing Walpole’s obsession with “gloomth” lighting (gloomy warmth), winding staircases, narrow passageways and hidden doorways. There was even some dressing up in period costume. The visit concluded with an hour-long lecture on the Gothic genre and Mary Shelley’s place within it. Whilst Walpole’s Castle of Otranto may not have reached the literary heights of Shelley’s magnum opus, the students delighted in reading chapter 1 aloud and appreciated its exaggerated Gothic tropes. Altogether, they gained a new appreciation for Shelley, her place in Gothic literature, and her craft.

Mrs Laura Wynne, Teacher of English