Around the turn of the millennium Regia Anglorum began work on the Wychurst project, to build an 11th century fortified manorial longhall on two acres of its own land in Kent. In February 2010 I got the chance to see the place while attending some film work for a forthcoming documentary.
In 1999 Regia’s leadership first mooted the possibility of building some form of permanent structure at the ‘Wildwood’ discovery park near Canterbury. This was the genesis of what became the Wychurst Project, and now, ten years later, the first phase of this hugely ambitious undertaking is almost complete. A 60’ by 30’ Saxon longhall surrounded by a pallisaded bank and ditch stands on two acres of the society's own land.
I was extremely excited when this project began and have keenly followed its development, but unfortunately distance and a young family conspired to keep me away from Wychurst until February 2010 when Sarah and I were able to take the boys down for a four day film shoot and we were able to see this remarkable site at first hand.
The first sight we had of Wychurst was the roof rising above the palisade as we drove up the track and the sheer size of the place is a shock! The hall is quite breathtaking, I was expecting something a little larger than the hall at Bede’s World but still on a similar scale yet the hall at Wychurst dwarfs it! As I have said I have followed the project since its inception but photographs do not begin to do justice to the sheer grandeur of the place. The hall is a good 30 feet high with a pitched roof of oak shingles that comes down to meet the gabled entrance hall with its sumptuously carved and painted beams, the eight is completed by the whitewashed, lime plaster walls. The interior of the hall is not finished yet, with floorboards needing to be put down, the dais to be properly made and the decoration and wall hanging embroidery to be added, but is impressive non the less. The walls are whitewashed and some have been painted with frescoes in period style and using period pigments. Though there is still work to do, it looks very good when dressed now and will look utterly stunning when complete!
The rest of the site is also looking good, a woodshed has been constructed in the compound and the sites of the outbuildings already planned. What is extremely impressive is the sweep of the ditch and bank with its surmounting palisade and fighting platform. While your eyes are inevitably drawn to the longhall, the defensive works are also very impressive and represent a great deal of work by the builders. On the Friday I made a point of walking the circuit of the defences and it was amazing how much more formidable a flooded ditch with bramble bushes at the top surmounted by a bank and timber palisade looks than you expect it to! Add in lots of men with pointy sticks at the top and this apparently simple defence is actually a very formidable barrier.
In total I spent four days at this magical place and would have loved to have stayed for longer, Wychurst is much more than its structures and setting, the place has a real atmosphere that is hard to put into words but is extremely powerful. Having waited ten years to see the place I am determined to get back there as soon as possible!
More pictures from the visit can be found in the galleries section.
