The Battle of Worcester was a real blast – in more ways than one!
Known as ‘The Loyal City’ – thanks to the latin slogan ‘civitas fiedlis’ supposedly written across its barricaded gate during the Battle of Worcester – it was where the first English Civil War is often credited with starting in September 1642 at the Battle of Powick Bridge and where the third civil war ended in 1651 with the Battle of Worcester.
This August Bank holiday weekend event was special because we were camping and fighting at Bennetts Willow Barn on the very ground where these engagements took place – we were a stone’s throw from Powick Bridge, which is undergoing repairs after flooding last year. It’s one of the privileges of our hobby, being able to bring history alive on the very spot where it took place!
August Bank Holiday is the last big event of the year, when the whole Sealed Knot gets together for a massed battle and big party! Speaking of parties, Saturday is always the night for our traditional fancy dress party – and this year the theme was ‘A Day at the Races’! Some got in their posh togs or jockey silks while others decided to interpret ‘races’ differently, before charging into some rather physical games that involved an indecent amount of toilet paper 😂
@english.civil.war And they’re off! There were no also-rans this weekend as Manchester’s donned their best togs for A Day At The ‘Races’ for our traditional August Bank Holiday fancy dress party! A couple of the contestants fell in the final furlong 😂 Looks like fun? Join us for the 2026 season for more tomfoolery and shenanigans in fields around the country! #fancydress #historicalreenactment #SealedKnot #HistoryTok #fun
The battle action kicked off on Sunday morning, with the whole Armie of Parliament turning out for parade. This involved marching through the tunnel under the A4440 road, the perfect opportunity for our drums to make some noise and our soldiers to practice their war cries!
@english.civil.war Marching through the Tunnel of Doom at Worcester with @The Sealed Knot! TBH it was a bit of a relief from the heat 🥵😂 #Worcester #Worcestershire #History #SealedKnot #Reenactment
Two of our members were honoured by Lord General of The Armie Parliament, Jon Courtney-Thompson, with Julian France – our former CO and the current commander of Fairfax’s Brigade – promoted from Lieutenant-Colonel to Colonel, and Musketeer Katherine awarded the Commonwealth Medal, for her service to the Armie and specifically for creating three special brigade colours for the Worcester event so that we could portray the New Model Army in the battle’s latter stages.
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- Former Manchester’s CO and Commander of Fairfax’s Brigade, Julian France, was promoted from Lieutenant-Colonel to Colonel by Lord General Jon Courtney-Thompson
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- Musketeer Katherine received the Commonwealth Medal for her support for the Armie of Parliament, including making three new flags for the event at Worcester
One of the highlights of this weekend was the return of our regiment’s cannon – The Lady Ann – to the battlefield for the first time in 14 years. Named after the much missed wife of our former gun captain, Mick Tomlinson, who sadly passed away this year, she has been brought back into use by a dedicated crew, returning our regiment to its full three arms – musket, pike, and cannon. It was a great to witness the inspectors passing her for action and then seeing her blazing away in the heat!
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- Sealed Knot cannon inspectors congratulate Manchester’s CO David, Gun Captain Scott, and cannoneer Kevin on the Lady Ann passing her test
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- The Lady Ann with her crew for the Battle of Worcester – (from left) Kevin, John, Gun Captain Scott, Amanda, Dave and Rachel
That first battle was a very emotional moment for Mick and Ann’s children, David and Rachel, who served on the gun crew, with David having the honour of firing the Lady Ann for the first time since his father passed away earlier this year – a fitting beginning to this new phase in our regiment’s history.
@english.civil.war In a very emotional moment, our regiment’s cannon – The Lady Ann – returned to the battlefield for the first time in 14 years. Named after the much missed wife of our former gun captain and CO, Mick Tomlinson, who sadly passed away this year, she has been brought back into use by a dedicated crew, returning our regiment to its full three arms – musket, pike, and cannon. It was a joy to see her blazing away in the heat at @Bennetts Willow Barn Worcester as we recreated the Sieges of Worcester! #history #reenactment #englishcivilwar #battle #HistoryTok
As well as reminders of the past, the regiment looked to the future by welcoming six new recruits to our ranks – it was great to receive Kathleen, Terry, Judith, Nick, Steve and Rachael into the ranks and introduce them to our fantastic hobby!
New members Nick, Rachael, and Steve
It’s fair to say that it’s been a bit of a hot summer, but Worcester ranks pretty highly among the hottest and driest we’ve experienced! With a long march to the battlefield past Powick Bridge, our pike block decided to try and keep cool by having their armour and coats go ahead of them – leading to them looking like a New Romantic band in the heat…
Keeping cool, looking cool: the pike block does their best ‘New Romantic’ pose in their shirt sleeves
There was a slight ‘snafu’ that required Pikeman Rawlinson to do his best ‘Chariots of Fire’ impression to ensure that the pikemen got their coats and armour (less said, soonest mended!) but they made it to battle in time for some very hot fighting!
@english.civil.war BRB, just assaulting the walls of a Royalist stronghold! Into history? There’s nothing better to do with friends than storm a bastion – that’s the life of a pikeman in the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote! You don’t need to know anything about English Civil War history or be an expert, it’s all about being part of something different. We’re already recruitment for next year – and you could join us for just £10 with all your historical kit thrown in! #reeanctment #HistoryTok #LoveHistory #History #HistiryBuff @The Sealed Knot
Luckily, once we got back to camp the evenings were a bit cooler and our gang enjoyed the beer tent before chatting and chilling under a string of festoon lights on the campsite into the early hours.
Despite the heat we had a great time storming the ‘walls’ of Worcester – thanks to all our opponents and well done to the organisers Charles Gerard’s Regiment of Foote and the Royalist Army for a great weekend!
