How heavy is a sword, could you march in chainmail and just how sharp is an arrow? Find out the answer to these medieval warfare puzzlers at the National Trust for Scotland’s Battle of Bannockburn centre in Stirling this summer.

All through the summer holidays the team at the site, which was crowned ‘best visitor experience’ by the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions, are running a series of hands-on sessions for all the family daily from 11am until 4pm.

Under the expert guidance of the Battle of Bannockburn’s onsite experts in medieval warfare, visitors will be able to try out replicas of some of the weaponry and armour of the 14th century.

Property manager Scott McMaster said: “Visitors love our 3D presentation of the battle and are often keen to find out more about the weaponry and techniques involved in fighting at the Battle of Bannockburn afterwards. Throughout the school holidays, we’ll be giving visitors the chance to do just that with our interactive, hands-on sessions.”  Opened in February 2014, the Battle of Bannockburn experience is the first heritage centre in the world using Hollywood-calibre motion capture to immerse visitors in a realistic and historically accurate 3D medieval battle.

Outside, the site’s historic monuments were restored – the iconic equestrian statue of Bruce was carefully cleaned back to its original bronze finish, the rotunda was repaired and a brand new ringbeam, complete with a newly-commissioned poem by Kathleen Jamie was installed – completing the original design intention from the 1960s.  Since opening, the site has won a series of awards and accolades, including the Innovation category at the Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence, the Tourism and Heritage category at the RICS awards, ‘best leisure/cultural building’ from the Scottish Design Awards and winner of the education/learning website category at the Herald Digital Business Scotland Awards.

The Battle of Bannockburn experience was supported by the Scottish Government and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It’s open all year round, seven days a week – book tickets at www.battleofbannockburn.com.