Watch Britain’s Most Historic Towns this Saturday!
A few months ago, members of the Sealed Knot gathered at a location outside of Oxford to help Professor Alice Roberts uncover the Civil War history of King Charles’ wartime capital – and the footage will be aired this Saturday!
On Saturday 8th June, the Channel 4 series Britain’s Most Historic Towns arrives in Oxford to look at the role it played in the first English Civil War.
In the series, Professor Roberts studies a key period in British history by telling the story of a single historic town. To understand how each town was shaped by the dominant forces of the age, she visits historic sites, meets local historians, and experiences life as it would have been in decades and centuries past. Meanwhile, aerial archaeologist Ben Robinson takes to the skies to see how the layout of each town reflects a historical era to this day, whilst CGI allows Professor Roberts to bring long lost monuments back to life and paint pictures of the towns at key stages in history.
Alice Roberts and Mike Molcher prepare a matchlock musket for firing.
Oxford served as King Charles’ capital during the first Civil War, after he failed to capture London after the Battle of Turnham Green and chose to winter his forces in the university town. Oxford endured three sieges between 1644 and 1646 but, overcrowded and isolated, eventually surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax’s New Model Army at the close of the first civil war.
As well as doing our best skirmishing, we showed Alice how to fire a matchlock musket, before demonstrating the effects of live firing with REAL musketballs – the results were, of course, explosive!
Our sections were filmed at Yarnton Manor, a large Jacobean country mansion built in 1611 which served as a Royalist military hospital during the first Civil War; about 40 Royalist soldiers were buried in nearby St Bartholomew’s churchyard. It was a great day of filming – thanks to all the members of the Sealed Knot who joined Manchester’s to take part!
We can’t wait to see the episode, which will air at 8pm on Saturday 8th June on Channel Four – don’t miss it!
Professor Alice Roberts with members of the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment outside Yarnton Manor, near Oxford
And don’t forget, you can march onto the battlefield with us this summer for as little as £10, with all your historical kit provided! Go on, give it a go – get in touch through our website now and discover this incredible hobby!
