New trebuchet attraction installed at Warwick Castle

The new trebuchet at Warwick Castle uses 300 pieces of oak and ash wood and weighs 22 tonnes

A historic trebuchet billed as "Britain's biggest siege machine" has been rebuilt at Warwick Castle.

The 18m (59ft) tall giant catapult, a replica of the castle's original medieval weaponry, forms part of the "Legend of the Trebuchet" attraction.

Projectiles will be launched into the air, in a recreation of the fire power used in historic battles.

Training is under way for those who will operate the new machine when it opens to the public from April.

Back in 2015, a fireball launched from a trebuchet at the castle destroyed a historic boathouse.

Liam Bartlett, operations director at the castle, explained the weapon had carried an advantage on battlefields and was used to attack from a longer distance.

"They would have been pulled up to a castle, maybe 200-300m away and they could have launched rocks, boulders and flaming boulders into castles," he added.

Overseen by a specially trained trebuchet master, the catapult takes 20 minutes to wind before it is ready to fire.

Marc Alden Taylor, trebuchet master at the castle, said it was "mind-blowing" to work with the machine, with Alice Clark, winder, adding it would have caused "serious damage" when used in the past.

"To see that you're part of that as well, to see how far it goes - it's impressive to me every time, because it would have been such a spectacle even then," she said.

Crafted by specialists in Devon, the new trebuchet uses 300 pieces of oak and ash wood and weighs 22 tonnes.