Doing time in the heat at Oxford Castle

It may have been a hot weekend, but there was plenty of cold, hard time to be done in the clink at Oxford! We had an amazing weekend at Oxford Castle & Prison, bringing the English Civil War history of this historic university city to life!

When Oxford became the King’s de facto capital in late 1642, the crumbling medieval castle was used as a prison for Parliamentarian prisoners-of-war, including the famous future Leveller, John Lilburne. Ably assisted by our good friends from The King’s Lifeguard of Foote and Lieutenant-Colonel John Lilburne’s Regiment of Foote, we took over the courtyard, Norman tower, and even the prison cells of this fantastic tourist attraction.

@english.civil.war

We’re taking over @OxfordCastle&Prison this weekend! Watch muskets firing, discover traditional cures and leather working in the courtyard, visit the unfortunate prisoners in the tower, or learn how to be a spy! Open from 10am to 5pm, step back in time to the 1646 Siege of Oxford! #oxford #oxfordcastle #oxfordshire #history #historytime #historical #reenactment #historicalreenactment #lovehistory #historytok cc. @The Sealed Knot

♬ Medieval – G-studio

On our living history display kids were able to learn how to grind flour with a quern-stone, all about cures for common – and not so common – ailments from the goodwyfe, how the barber surgeon dealt with everything from battle wounds to bad teeth, how to be a pikeman in a civil war regiment (complete with attack by some “cavalry”), and even how to write in secret code to become a Parliamentarian spy!

Those who ventured up into St George’s Tower, the last original part of the castle still standing, were met with the gruesome sight – Parliamentarian soldiers held captive without adequate food or water in Matilda’s Room. When the castle was a prison during the civil war, conditions were brutal and the “inhuman” Royalist governor Captain William Smith kept so many prisoners in the tower that many could not even sit down. Some captives complained that they had to stand in human waste almost to the tops of their shoes, while others succumbed to typhus, known as ‘gaol fever’. Thankfully, conditions at the prison are now somewhat more lenient, but that didn’t mean the prisoners didn’t have to fight over a rat to eat or beg tourists for a drop of water to drink! Meanwhile, in one of the smaller cells in the 18th Century prison wing, a woman accused of witchcraft was on hand to explain how and at whom such accusations were levelled in the 1640s.

Video by Rhodri Ross

Photos by John Beardsworth

Out in the prison courtyard, the besieged residents of Oxford talked to the public heard about the mass appeal of Broadside Ballads and 17th Century medical care, homemade remedies for everything from earache to being bitten by a dog, and were able to take away a leather tag embossed with their name. Then they watched demonstrations of musket, pike, drums and colours, giving them an insight into what it would have been like in Oxford during the sieges of the first English Civil War.

Photos by Michael Molcher

Even with the 32° degree heat over the weekend, our members went above and beyond in bringing history alive – and after a tiring day it was back to the home of some of our members who live in Oxford for a pizza party and some well-earned socialising in the growing dusk!

Thanks go to everyone who was able to be a part of this brand new event, to the managers and staff at the castle who were so welcoming, and to all the public who visited and discovered the hidden history of Oxford!

Enjoyed this post and 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: