Follow our blog for up-to-date information on our events, discover more about the fascinating history of the English Civil Wars, and get the chance to meet some of our members…
Our reenactment season for 2023 has now come to a close – and what a year it’s been! We’ve been up and down the country to bring the past to life at some amazing locations, from stately homes to housing estates. We thought we would ask our members what event was their highlight of their…
DetailsWhat a way to draw our reenactment season to a close – with a blaze of glory at a spectacular muster in the grounds of a ruined abbey once besieged by Oliver Cromwell! Shut down during the Reformation, Crowland Abbey sits on the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens north of Peterborough and was a stunning…
DetailsWhat a weekend! it was the August Bank Holiday, so that can mean only one thing – the entire Sealed Knot gathering to reenactment and socialise together! We’ve just returned from an amazing time at Margam Country Park near Port Talbot in south Wales, where we took part in huge battles, enjoyed fantastic parties, and…
DetailsIt was a wet weekend in Bidford-on-Avon – but not because of the weather! We’re now all back home after an absolutely brilliant reenactment event in the heart of Warwickshire – from trying to blow up a bridge to revealing life during the English Civil War, it was a wonderfully fun couple of days at…
DetailsAfter two years away, the Battle of Nantwich returned to the Cheshire town with a bang – and a big win for the Earl of Manchester’s! We’re back home now after a fantastic time at the 50th anniversary Holly Holy Day and Battle of Nantwich reenactment in Cheshire. With temperatures dipping well below freezing overnight,…
DetailsWe’re only just recovering from the biggest event of the year – the August Bank Holiday muster at Compton Verney in the Warwickshire countryside! Congratulations to Sergeant Major General Philip Skippon’s Regiment of Foote for a great event, which took place in the grounds of the beautiful Grade I listed mansion, which now houses an…
DetailsChastleton House is a delight for anyone interested in history, let alone 17th Century history. The Jacobean country house near Moreton-in-Marsh in Oxfordshire was built between 1607 and 1612 for Walter Jones (born 1550), whose family’s success in the wool business allowed him to make his fortune from the law – he rose from being the town clerk…
DetailsWe just hit our 1,000th post on our Instagram account – and to celebrate we’ve been through and found our top ten most popular images! Seeing the fantastic photos after an event is one of the joys of reenacting, whether it’s from the middle of a battle or a dedicated photoshoot, and we love sharing…
DetailsIt’s been far too long since we donned wool and stepped back to the 17th Century – but what a glorious weekend to do it! Nestled in the Warwickshire countryside and equidistant between Stratford and Worcester, Bidford is the site of an ancient bridge over the River Avon. In mid-1644, as he withdrew from Worcester…
DetailsDownload free English Civil War teaching packs With schools closed as part of the coronavirus lockdown, many parents will be home-schooling for the first time. To support those families looking for educational lockdown activities, the first two of four FREE teaching packs are available to download from the Manchester’s website now. The packs will support…
Details“Fit for trading” Susan Hill, the first wife of Edward Montagu How the marriage of an inn-keeper’s daughter and a future earl reveals the rich trade in wives and titles in the last days of the court of James VI/I In 1623, a satirical poem called “Heaven Blesse King James Our Joy” launched a…
DetailsThe Thirty Years War was one of the most destructive wars in European history – a vicious struggle between 1618 and 1648 which devastated large parts of the Continent. Part of the European Wars of Religion, it began when the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II of Bohemia attempted to curtail the religious activities of his subjects, sparking…
DetailsEngland has only ever put a monarch on trial once – but at Huntingdon Town Hall last month, some of our members helped put King Charles the First on trial FOUR times! Organised by the Cromwell Museum and our friends in Colonel John Pickering’s Regiment of Foote, the restaging of the Trial of Charles I…
DetailsWhile most people associate the Sealed Knot with massed battles, we also spend a lot of time looking into and reenacting the lives of ordinary people from the 17th Century. Our living history encampments are an ideal opportunity to practice traditional crafts such as sewing, weaving, leather-working, woodturning and many more, jobs that weren’t necessarily…
DetailsHow to fire a 17th Century cannon! There are fewer sights more impressive on a battlefield than a cannon being fired and in this video, Monika, Matross to the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote, takes you through the process of loading and firing a 17th Century ‘robinette’ cannon. During the English Civil War, cannons…
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