The longhall at Wychurst

Around the turn of the millennium Regia Anglorum began work on the Wychurst project, to build an 11^th 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 season started in January with the winter training weekend at Islip in Oxfordshire. Old friends met up after the close season, new members took their weapons tests and we all had a happy time shaking off the cobwebs and hitting each other with spears, swords and axes in preparation for York and the battles to come! Islip is always a good social weekend but not having been able to train much over winter I was horrendously out of practice on the field and needed to get much more training in before York!

York

Charlie in the thick of it at York

Jorvik Viking Festival in February is traditionally the first major event of the season and always the best attended. 2009 was no exception as in excess of three hundred members turned up in one capacity or another. For the fighters the show started at 10AM with the usual combat training session in the Museum Gardens. Al and Charlie had also come over from Cestrescire, and we had some very good, hard fighting until one when we took a break to grab some food and prepare for the main battle. At two we mustered for the scrap. Set in the Northern rebellion of 1070, the battle would see Saxon and Anglo-Danish rebels face William’s Normans.

It was one of the best battles I’ve ever done at York, very hard fought and the result in doubt almost to the end. The clincher was Cestrefeld standing firm on our left flank while a surge of armoured warriors broke through the Norman centre to win the battle for the rebels - setting what turned out to be the pattern for the season! After the battle two of our best and most respected warriors (Jane and Little Pete) were raised to the rank of Warlord. Richly deserved it was too!

Regia in pitched battle with the Norman infantry

Every year, re-enactment society The Vikings hold a re-enactment of the battle of Hastings on the very site of the battle itself. But in 2006 the call went out to groups across the world, as this time it would be one of the biggest re-enactments ever staged in Britain.

I’d been in two minds about going to Hastings ever since Regia announced that we were going to take part. On the one hand standing in an ‘army’ of over a thousand warriors re-fighting probably the most famous battle in English history on the site of the actual battle itself had huge appeal. On the other, I’ve never liked scripted, fixed end combat and the Battle of Hastings obviously has to end in a Norman victory!