By any standard, our event at Foxdenton Hall will leave memories that will last a lifetime…
We returned to the lovely grounds of the Grade II* listed country house in Chadderton, near Manchester, for a weekend of ‘living history’. The weather gods shone on us — or, more specifically, dialled back both blazing sun and torrential rain — and we gloried in moderate temperatures with a cooling breeze. And thank goodness for that because it was non-stop all weekend, with the event enjoying a record-breaking attendance of over 3,000 local people!
@english.civil.war Memories are made of weekends like this. Foxdenton Hall came alive with the sights and sounds of the 17th Century, as we brought the history of the Civil Wars to local people in Chadderton. What an incredible event – we were overwhelmed with the response with thousands of people from across Greater Manchester and beyond threading their way through our living history encampment, learning about everything from wool spinning and dyeing, to printing and poisons, leather-working and metal-forging. Hard work, camaraderie, friends, family, passion — it’s no exaggeration that this will leave memories that last a lifetime. A huge thank you to the team behind Chadderton Together for making this possible — and to the hardworking team at Lydia’s Tearoom, who worked like the clappers all weekend! Thank you to every member of Manchester’s who put so much into making this an event to remember, as well as our good @The Sealed Knot friends in @NewcastlesFoote @Royalist Baggage Trayne and John Lilburne’s Regiment of Foote for their support and being such an important part of a special weekend. And thank you to the people of Chadderton for their warm welcome — we hope we can return in the future! Want to make memories like these? Join us by going to earlofmanchesters.co.uk #History #Reenactment #Oldham #Manchester #HistoryLovers
The current Georgian house at Foxdenton sits on the site of one built by William Radclyffe in 1620. William and his oldest son Robert died at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, and it fell to his third son William to continue the estate. He also fought for the King in the Civil War and was knighted on the field at the Battle of Lostwithiel in 1644 before becoming a Colonel under Lord Hopton, but the family was nearly ruined by the fines on the estate after the Parliamentarian victory. The local council took over and restored the hall, once home to suffragist Lydia Becker, in the 1960s but after being closed in 2011 it was taken over in 2016 by the Chadderton Together community group, which last year secured a £228,000 development National Lottery Heritage Fund grant to kickstart an ambitious £3.5 million restoration project.
After an afternoon of setting up on the Friday we enjoyed a group takeaway. While most of us tucked into traditional fish and chips, thanks to Stan and Scott we were introduced to the concept of the ‘munchie box’ in all its gelatinous glory! God help their guts, is all we can say after witnessing that…
Photo by Michael Molcher
The next morning the public flooded in, with a display of classic cars and stalls for local groups at the front of the park. But once visitors headed past the hall they were transported back to the 17th Century with a PACKED living history encampment where thousands learned about dyeing and spinning wool, leather-working, cures and poisons, tinctures and concoctions, gunpowder production, printing and propaganda, woodworking, nettle-weaving, and also witnessed the blacksmiths working our brand new portable forge! They also enjoyed displays of musket and pike — and we greatly enjoyed the reaction to our cannons going off!
@english.civil.war Come take a tour of our historical encampment at Foxdenton Hall as we dive into the 17th Century and the English Civil Wars. From our apothecary to the forge, from pike-making to the cook tent, there’s a fascinating experience waiting for you this weekend in Chadderton near Manchester! #Manchester #Oldham #History #HistoryTok #Reenactment
While it wasn’t as hot as it has been recently, our reenactors were on their feet constantly all weekend (one commented that they realised they’d only had a handful of minutes when they weren’t talking to members of the public) so we took a leaf out of the World Cup’s book for when energy levels start to flag — reenactor hydration breaks!
@english.civil.war Hydration breaks, reenactment style! #WorldCup #HistoryTok #HydrationBreak #Beer #Reenactment
Of course, we kept going thanks to the ministrations of our goodwives, who kept us fed with delicious period food and watered all weekend — we could never do it all without them!
@english.civil.war It’s true — we never eat as healthily as we do on a Living History camp 😂 It’s the classic historical English diet that every reenactor enjoys and our ancestors would have eaten for centuries: pottage (a veggie stew, maybe with barley or oats), a slice of ham if you’re lucky, some local cheese, a hunk of traditional ‘manchet’ bread slathered in handmade butter, a smattering of homemade pickles, and some dried summer fruit from last year’s harvest. Not shown: the pint of very low alcohol ‘small beer’ that would have delivered the bulk of the day’s calories. But whatever is in it, we’d be in trouble without the Goodwyves who slave over the hot fire to make it happen! #History #Reenactment #Food #Traditional #FoodTok @The Sealed Knot @Annie Mae
Photos by Michael Molcher
Of course, the afternoon is the time for battle! The troops gathered in the woods at the end of the park to skirmish with pike, musket, sword and cannon, much to the delight of hundreds of people packing the edges of the battlefield. By the end of the weekend it was a one-all draw, so we’ll have to return for a decider in the future…
Photo by Judith McGarty
We welcomed three new members to our ranks — Eva, Beth, and Charlie — and hope that they will be coming to more events in the future! They’ll likely be joined by plenty more as our recruitment tent was packed all weekend, with sixteen individuals and families signing up after they were inspired by the weekend to join our merry band.
Thanks to the passion of our amazing team, and the interest and enthusiasm of the public, Foxdenton was a rousing success and a great start to the new era for the hall. We want to extend a huge thanks to the whole team at Chadderton Together for their warm welcome and hard work, as well as share our appreciation and admiration for our Sealed Knot friends the Marquess of Newcastle’s Regiment of Foote, The Royalist Baggage Trayne and Lieutenant-Colonel John Lilburne’s Regiment of Foote for all their help bringing this event to life!
We can’t wait to return!
Photos by Karen Berry
Photos by Chris Monks
There’s still time to join us in 2026 and experience weekends like this for yourself — you could be taking part for as little as £10, with your kit provided! Message us now and you could:
Fire a cannon!
Fire a musket and go into hand-to-hand!
Be a drummer and lead the regiment!
If that’s not your thing then join our living history, where you can learn traditional skills!