The Battle of Evesham 2023
- a brief After Action Report.
Last weekend (4-6th August), I had the pleasure of taking part in the Battle of Evesham event for the first time. This is the biggest 13th century re-enactment in Britain and possibly in Europe (or even the world according to the local newspaper) with around 35 groups taking part. One group of three men camped next to us had are members of Pisa Ghibellina and had come over from Italy! Mick Hurst, the organiser, has told me that there were 622 re-enactors and 20 horses at the event. Due to the bad weather, the visitor figures were slightly down on last year but still numbered over 25,000.
The event was very well organised and things were quickly adapted through the day to take the rather wet but changeable weather into account. Those key things for re-enactors in the authentic camp, firewood & water were well supplied and easy to access. So my thanks to the team that run the event for making life easy.
Unfortunately, due to the weather on Saturday and then being busy with the visitors on Sunday, I only managed to take a few photos done myself, mainly quick shots of my kit and little miner’s set up. Happily, there are many people who came and took shots of the camps and the battles and they have generously posted the on the event’s Facebook group with permission for re-enactors to use their pictures on our blogs & web sites.
The damp march through the town and commemoration at the memorial.
On the Saturday morning, the Festival started with a
march through the town. Although it was raining fairly heavily on and off, I
was impressed by the number of townsfolk & visitors who lined the
route under their umbrellas. It’s nice to be appreciated
.
We returned to the memorial where we heard a quick
account of the battle and the speeches were made by the town’s Mayor
& the Bishop of Dudley before a wreath was laid in memory of all who died in the battle.
The main Battle display.
This took place in the afternoon on both days and the rain gods relented to let us do it in the dry both times!
Lord Fitzalan and some of his gallant retainers
head to the battlefield to take their places in the Lord Edward’s centre
division which took the brunt of the enemy attacks. (Photograph possibly by Pat Patrick but not sure)
The Heroic Lord Edward. (Photo by Louise Hussey)
The Dastardly Simon de Montfort on his horse which was apparently named “King” – Irony intended? (Photo by Louise Hussey)
Fitzalan’s little force engaged in hard fighting in the middle of the battle. One of the many pictures of our best side – the backs of our heads. (Photograph by Greg Phaedra)
Our inevitable victory as God was, of course, on OUR side. (photo by Pat Patrick)
That being so, the youngest of our contingent did get to kill the Montfortian Bishop as the crowd cheered. Chess puns allowed. The Bishop ran away in the second battle so I had to make do killing with a Knight-Hospitaller who had strayed from the righteous path to support de Montfort.
Of the many groups there, the two groups we had the most contact with (one quite literally) during the event need a quick mention:
(photgraph by Corporate-Motion Film Production)
The House of the Twin Tailed Lion (Facebook page here & web site here):
Our main opponents during the battle display as they formed the centre of the rebel line. They are based in Evesham itself. They re-enact as troops from the De Montfort household.
Nice chaps, it was a pleasure to slaughter them mercilessly as the battle ended in their defeat.
and
Despite the long and often violent relationship between the historical Fitzalans and Corbetts, we managed not to stab each other in the back while we both held the left flank of the Lord Edward’s centre division during the battle display. I still swear that the 40 Corbett cattle followed me home from the tavern that night and we only borrowed them.
There was also a display based on the Battle of Lewes (1264), which the Royalists lost, in the morning on the Sunday. Sadly, I missed this one as I was busy sorting out my mining kit as I couldn’t get it done on Saturday due to the rain.
What did I do when I wasn’t fighting?
On the Saturday, I largely sheltered from the rain and played board games, Tallfwrdd and Alquerque being the main ones. Dressed as Welshman, I had a very quick part in the civilian fashion parade and then kitted up for battle.
On Sunday, I got dressed in my new kit (over the 15 year or so gap in medieval re-enactment, the moths had found several pieces of my old kit) and swiftly constructed my little mantlet as part of my new siege mining set up. There was quite a bit of interest amongst the Public and fellow re-enactors, mainly in the tools I had laid out. I ended up having two nice long chats with a retired South African mining engineer and someone from the Forest of Dean who actually knew where the places that I was talking about were.
My new Siege mining set up.
This was the first outing for this and more quickly but together than I would have liked. The little shelter is supposed to be a temporary siege mantlet with a “raw” cow hide over it which they used for fireproofing against those hot arrows. Not too bad for a first try but I have several improvements in mind for next time.
I enjoyed the event very much, once again thanks to the hard work put in by the team that run it, and all the re-enactors who make it fun.
I will definitely be going back next year!
It was an honour to host you lot (622 + 20 horses) and help educate visitors from all over the world on what happened here in Evesham. I was humbled by the numbers willing to go on the Grand Parade in the rain... I had organised 32 regional Mayors and Mayoresses to take part, and they will now take positive accounts of the re-enactment world and 1265 back to their towns and counties across the West Midlands. Thank you everyone.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words. We appreciate the hard work you and your team put in throughout the year to spport the event. We will always promote it where we can.
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