Fourth time’s a charm at the Battle of Nantwich!

We’re a bit in shock but over the moon! For the FOURTH year in a row, the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote have been awarded the Rose Bowl for ‘Best Regiment’ at the Battle of Nantwich!!

What a weekend! You can get a glimpse of what we got up to on our Tiktok video…

 

@english.civil.war

What an incredible weekend we just had at the Battle of Nantwich! ⚔️💥🥰 It really doesn’t get better than this – coming together as a gang of friends to march, sing, fight, and drink, being part of an amazing event that brings crowds out onto the streets in the dead of winter. And to top it all off – we won the Rose Bowl for ‘best regiment’ for the FOURTH year running! Every year we travel to Nantwich in Cheshire to mark Holly Holy Day, the commemoration of the battle that broke that Royalist siege of this Parliamentarian town in 1644. With sprigs of holly in our hats – just like the victorious Parliament troops did – we march into the town with our twin colours fluttering in the wind, our musket and pike blocks singing, our drums echoing off the walls of narrow medieval streets. After performing a drill demonstration and listening to a sermon from our preacher, it was off to battle! With the joy of another unexpected win in the Rose Bowl competition we scrubbed up and descended on our favourite pub, The Oddfellows Arms, for a fantastic night of comradeship, fun, and draining the ‘Rose Bin’ (our more robust stand-in for the venerable Rose Bowl) of some interesting concoctions! With croaky voices and a few sore heads, we headed home the next day – basking in the warm glow of a fantastic weekend and already looking to the start of our season proper. Massive thanks to the people of Nantwich, the organisers, and all our friends and foes in the Sealed Knot for a wonderful time. Here’s to next year! #Nantwich #Cheshire #Battle #Reenactment #BattleOfNantwich Photos and video by Scott McHale, Michael Molcher, Millie Tkocz-Huck, Hayley Eastman, Phil Bulkeley, Neil Workman, Katherine Corr, Huw Lewis, and Rachel Jones. @The Sealed Knot @NantwichNews @Nantwich Town

♬ Get This – The All-American Rejects

Every January, the Sealed Knot gathers in Nantwich, the market town in Cheshire that was besieged by Royalist forces in 1644, to commemorate and reenact the lifting of the siege by a Parliamentarian army under the command of Thomas Fairfax. Although a small battle, victory at Nantwich went on to have far-reaching consequences for the future of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

The reenactment, which has been going on since the 1970s, is named ‘Holly Holy Day’ after the sprigs of holly the Parliamentarians wore in their hats. As the only large reenactment battle in mid-winter, it’s a wonderful opportunity to come together and have a great battle with a great bash afterwards! And what a year this was!

This year, we were very pleased to welcome our newest member, Ellie, (pictured left) who joined us on a £10 temporary membership – talk about being thrown in at the deep end! But she dealt with it admirably and the big grin at the end of the weekend told us everything had gone well.

After our customary drill practice on the tennis courts at Malbank School in the cold and windy January air, we retired en masses to the excellent Welsh Row Fryer to ‘carb load’ in preparation for a long day of marching and battling. It’s always funny to see this great local business packed to the rafters with redcoats and we get such a warm welcome!

Then it was time to form up and march into town. Regardless of the weather, we always receive a warm welcome from local people who lined the streets in their hundreds to watch the Sealed Knot march down Welsh Row and into the market square. Nantwich is an ancient and historic town, with some beautiful timber-frame buildings and narrow streets, making it the perfect place for us to sing our regiment song – Thomas Ravenscroft’s Remember, O Thou Man. It can be such a stirring sound as the beat of the drums and our singing bounce off the walls.

@english.civil.war

“Death to tyranny!” We marched through the streets of Nantwich in Cheshire on our way to relieve the siege of the town by Royalist forces – shouting our war cry, singing our battle hymn, and looking damn fabulous while we did it! What a glorious day we had, with the public lining the streets to cheer us on before we headed to Mill Island for battle. And the cherry on the cake was winning the coveted Rosebowl trophy for the FOURTH year in a row! We’ll be bringing you more about our day soon! #Nantwich #Cheshire #Reenactment #HistoricalReenactment #Tyranny Video used with kind permission of Neil Workman

♬ original sound – Earl of Manchester’s Regiment

 

Once we reached the packed Market Square, it was time for another sermon from our regimental preacher (who this year discovered that he can’t quite hit the high notes any more!) before the judging for the Rose Bowl – the annual competition for ‘best regiment’ – takes place. Each regiment goes through their drill manoeuvres in front of the public, under the eagle eyes of the trio of judges.

Photos by Huew Lewis

We then marched down to the battlefield on Mill Island, where the going was muddy but firm and our pike and musket blocks, joined by our friends in Fairfax’s Brigade – Lord Grey’s Regiment of Foote, Lord Saye & Sele’s Regiment of Foote, and Sir John Gell’s Regiment of Foote – had some great fights against strong opposition from The Earl of Northampton’s Regiment of Foote, Sir John Owens Regiment of Foot, Prince Maurice’s Regiment of Dragoones, Sir George Lisle’s Regiment of Foote, Colonel Charles Gerard’s Regiment of Foote, Marquess of Newcastle’s Regiment of Foote, Sergeant Major General Henry Tillier’s Regiment of Foote, Marquess of Newcastle’s Regiment of Foote, Sir Marmaduke Rawdon’s Regiment of Foote, and Colonel Stephen Hawkins’ Regiment of Foote.

Once battle was done, it came time for the announcement of who had won the Rose Bowl trophy. It’s important to us that we support the competition: practising for it boosts the regiment’s solidarity, supports those whose effort goes into making this event happen, gives us an excuse for our annual training weekend, and is a lot of fun to boot!

So we were delighted when it was announced that we had won for the FOURTH year in a row! The Rosebowl was presented to our commanding officer David Frederick by the Mayor of Nantwich, Councillor Mary Slin, and Malcolm Watkins of the Yeoman of the Sealed Knot.

A hearty huzzah to the other regiments taking part in the Rose Bowl – the King’s Lifeguard, Col. John Pickering’s Regiment of Foote, and Prince Rupert’s Bluecoats!

And then it was time to kick back and celebrate! As it’s a little risky taking the original Rose Bowl to the pub like we used to, we broke out our hardier replacement – THE ROSE BIN! This totally-sanitary alternative stood in ably as we received a warm welcome from the new team at The Oddfellows Arms on Welsh Row, who very generously filled the bin with beer to mark the win!

It was a really great night, filled with laughter and catching up with friends from across the Sealed Knot. A huge thank you must go to our hosts, the King’s Lifeguard which – along with a small army of volunteers – puts on another brilliantly organised weekend.

So now we’re nursing our tired and bruised bodies – as well as a few well-deserved hangovers – but we’re itching to get back into kit and we have some great events planned.

If this account and the photos and videos have whetted your appetite and you fancy giving it a go it couldn’t be easier – for as little as £10 you could have a taster weekend and we’ll provide all the reenactment kit you need! Visit our website, drop us a line, and you could be marching onto a battlefield with us!

Until next year, Nantwich!

Photos by Mark Payne

Photos by Peter Robinson

Photos by Phil Bulkeley

Has this post piqued your interest and you want to give it a go? You could be taking part for as little as £10, with your kit provided! This hobby has something for everyone and by joining our regiment you could: