Medieval Mayhem
Blood and Honour
‘Gwain Hetherfield’ and ‘Lord Henry De Cavesham’ come to blows and duel to protect the hounour of the Lady Cosmeston. Lord De Cavesham then shows onlookers how to fend off multiple attackers in the heat of battle.
THE YEAR is 1350 and the smell of blood, vomit and charred flesh is in the air, bodies lye slain around the battlefield as the sheriff executes the last of the Welsh rebels on Cosmeston field.
Throw your mind back six-hundred years and this scene would have been typical of medieval South Glamorgan as the remnants of Wales’ royal lines and their followers battled against the foreign lords who ruled in the name of King Edward III.
Today this period is being re-enacted by hundreds of men and women from archaeologist to black smiths who want to re-capture this era in living history, dispelling myths about the dark ages and educating the public. But over the last ten years the debate has raged in both local councils and Westminster about whether money should be devoted to living history projects or if it is better spent on local bus services and filling pot holes.
Playing Sergeant at Arms Gwalchmai and defending the Lord of De-Caversham’s lands against the rebel pup Prince Caradog, Nick Coles is also the manager and historical curator of Cosmeston Medieval Village.
He said:” Our original intent was to base the village in the 1450’s. But we really needed some event to hang the village around. We chose the Black Death which was rife in this area around 1348 and changed the whole structure of power and economic relations.
“We do not want the village to be just a big museum, we want people to feel like they have walked right into a medieval village and experience it as it lived and breathed.”
Mr Coles is one man who has quite literally lived the 14th century for three decades in attempt to bring it to life for another generation.
Starting life as an archaeologist he helped to literally dig up the remains of the medieval village, in one of South Wales’ famed beauty spots in 1978, rebuild it from the ground up, and then continue to fight for its existence.
“The response living history gets from people and politicians is really polarised. Some think it is amazing to have access to such a valuable learning resource where they can come themselves to visit events throughout the year, but others feel the money would be better spent on more street lights or equipment for schools.” He said.
“My view is that if you do not believe there is any point to history and culture then I can’t do anything to persuade you otherwise. But I strongly believe there is a point to living history and all that it entails as it is an invaluable asset to our nation’s heritage.
“ My role in the village is to run it on a day to day basis from making sure the boars are fed and happy in the piggery to organising events and trying to secure funding for the village to continue to run and flourish so we can present it to people as a living window on history.”
Cosmeston Medieval Village was discovered during the development of Cosmeston Lakes Country Park. Following a campaign to preserve the site by Mr Coles and the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, it was decided rather than simply excavate the foundations of the village they would be incorporated into the re-building a cross section of village life.
Mr Coles outlined why he has continued to battle sceptics for thirty years, he said:
“On average 18,000 people come through the gates every year. This includes people doing research for their PHD thesis, re-enactment enthusiasts who like dressing up and being mad for a day, to those who are just curious and want an interesting day out.
“50-years-ago people were simply happy to engage with history passively, to read it and imagine. But in today’s world, where everything is interactive and there is no distance between people and information through technology, they want to experience something more tangible. This is where living history comes in.
“We are open for people to come and experience 14th century life throughout the year but it gets really exiting when we hold our festival events. Our battle event is the biggest event of its kind in Wales and sees a huge swathe of expertise attend such as archaeologists and historians to ancient warfare enthusiasts and student groups.
“The people who come to watch are also very varied, some times its families who want a day out to do something different, or couples out on an alternative date, or maybe just the odd person who wants to see people pretend to hack lumps out of each other with swords.”
Melissa Hainsworth, playing Princess Catherine De-Caversham, is a member of Cardiff Castle Garrison, a group of dedicated enthusiasts with a wide range of backgrounds and interests, but with a common zeal to get dressed up and attack each other with sadistic glee.
Playing a member of the house hold archers on the day of the battle, Miss Hainsworth, 22, an archaeology student at Cardiff University, would have been a rare but historically accurate breed of female archers who in times of great need would help swell the numbers of the household militia to fend of attacks.
Standing among a massed rank of archers at the back of the battle field, and using a three-foot ewe long bow and rubber tipped arrows, Princess Catherine formed part of the long range artillery during the battle.
“Allot of people think re-enactors are strange, but we all come from backgrounds that are in some level involved with the investigation of history. What better way to do that then physically re-creating it and then giving people the chance to witness it in action.
“ There is no greater kick than pulling on my armour, stringing my bow and walking out into battle and being part of hundreds of people just having such fun, its also great to be able to shoot people with arrows without worrying about anyone getting hurt. She said.
“While fighting in re-enactments is one of the best parts of being part of the Cardiff Garrison, it is also great to go back to basics and just live life as someone would have six-hundred-years-ago. It is also great to physically show spectators how hard life was in the 14th century, showing them how to bake bread in a clay over or how simple cloth was spun, to giving tutorials on ancient battle strategies and the background history.
“Roman Britain up to the end of Medieval Britain is my specialist area and being able to re-create that life helps me in my work of studying and preserving that history for future generations.”
Founded in 2000 by medieval historians Karen Vaughn and Alex Armstrong, the Cardiff Castle Garrison has always maintained strong links with Cosmeston and is its principal re-enactment group.
The Garriosn now travels not only around Wales but to archaeological digs and re-enactments around Europe in their quest for blood and glory.
Drew Druid, commander of the garrison, outlined why he has continued to campaign for the profile and funding for living history.
“ The purpose of living history is to put the idea of what life was like in a specific period into practice and see if theories stand up to the test.
“ Through making bread, beating metal, or even making your own clothes with no modern tools and only what has been found from archaeological digs in the area we can see where our modern civilisation has come from, what we have lost and what skills and tools we currently have are a development on older methods. He said.
“Our other aim is to just get away from the trappings of modern day life and show people how our ancestors lived on a day to basis.
“Those who join the garrison are from all sorts of interest areas, whether they are archaeologists who want to live the world they research or modern black smiths who want to test themselves and see the roots of their profession.
“When interacting with the public we also try to dispel many of the myths about medieval life which were instilled by a Victorian perception of history which is largely very wrong and simply smashes together chunks of history from over half a millennia to represent some mythical noble age of dark age chivalry and peasant life.”
Hammering at a molten sword over a blazing hand pumped furnace, by name and by nature Gore Smith is the Garrisons resident black smith, he said:
“My motivation for living history is simple, I want to see if I can achieve the same results of high quality craftsmanship I have with modern tools with ancient ones.
“ It helps to make me even better at my trade and there is something really enjoyable about just using techniques put into practice six hundred years ago and seeing them work.
“ Now there is only two dedicated schools in the UK teaching smithing, but in the 14th century there were thousands of black smith across the country as well as farriers. While enjoying my own interest my aim is also to help teach people about the reality of their own history, devoid of the trappings of modern life.
“For example, contrary to popular belief, farriers were the only people who would shoe horses, black smiths concentrated on heavy metal work and making armour and the two were separate trades. But if you watch holywood both very distinct roles are merged into one.
“The idea of a replacement culture simply did not exist as it did today, everything was repaired through the use of artisans like black smiths. It gives me such pleasure to take a broken tool or weapon and repair through these ancient skills good as new.
Walking around on the fringes of a full scale medieval battle is a strange experience as the re-enactors for the most part stay very firmly in character. Women bake bread in burningly hot bakeries, while apothecaries tend to the ‘injured’ with ointments and ancient cures. Catching a lull in the fighting one burly soldier, Paul Lamborne, explains just why he thinks history and living museums such as Cosmeston are so important.
“ The joy of living history is that it brings the past to life, instead of just reading a book you can actually go and live in the period you are interested in for the day and experience their hard ships and their experiences.
“ I am a retired rifleman for the British Army and so for me it is fascinating to see the weapons, tactics and tools used in warfare in this time and to just enjoy being around like minded people.
“ I think it is vital people can come and access living history as it makes learning more interactive and fun for a younger generation and it is also a growing hobby, there are regularly 6,000 or more people who attend re-enactment events such as the one at Windsor.
“Just sleeping out for a night in a medieval tent or actually wearing armour and feeling how heavy it was keeps you more in touch with our human past than simply reading about it.”
While re-enactors feel ardently about their cause, those such as Mr Coles feeling living history has remained underfunded not only in Wales but across the UK for many years. But hope may be on the way as with more spending power devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government, sights such as Cosmeston have seen the bare trickle of support turn into more sustainable grants.
In 2008 Allun Fredd Jones, became Heritage Minister, and among his mission statement for Wales tourism industry and historical preservation was a commitment to living history, he said:
“It is important that we dispel the subconscious impression, which many may have, that the historic environment is all about the monuments of the rich and powerful.
“ Telling the story of history’s ordinary people, including the underdog, is also our responsibility. Cadw and bodies such as the Royal Commission, the National Trust,national and local archives, and museums are already doing a great deal to tell these ‘hidden histories’ and will develop this further through interpretation, publication and ‘living history’.
“Caring for our inheritance is a duty and a privilege, but the full significance of this responsibility is only apparent in a broader context.
“We live in times of rapid change and great challenges. Beneath the ‘credit crunch’ lies the fundamental need to make the transition to amore sustainable way of life: one that not only respects environmental limits, but also promotes human values and our sense of community rather than undermines them.
“The commitment to meet this challenge is rooted in a strong sense of our obligation to future generations and we are much more likely to be able to foster such commitment if, as a society, we have a genuine feeling for the debt we owe to generations past.”
While Mr Fredd-Jones may make positive sounds those such as Anthony Ernest, Cabinet Member in charge of heritage for Vale of Glamorgan Council, feel that not enough is being done to support centres of culture like Cosmeston.
“Funding for living history is not a statutory requirement, and it should be. At the moment the council is not obliged to provide funding for projects such as the Cosmeston Medieval Village, rather we allocated discretionary grants towards it construction and now its maintenance.
“I think what Cosmeston have achieved with their funding is amazing, but they do rely heavily on enthusiastic volunteers such as the Cardiff Castle Garrison. I would like to see more money directed towards the development of living history but unfortunately the council has to live within its means.
“What I would say to critics of living history is that specifically Cosmeston forms part of the over all pattern of tourism in the Vale of Glamorgan and is one of our premier attractions in conjunction with the nature park and lake. When you attend one of their events you really feel like you have jumped into a time machine. Being able to experience the exact same smells, sights and sounds from six-hundred years ago is simply an amazing opportunity.
“It far better than a static museum, and all the structures and people living in them brings history to life, which for a generation which seems out of touch with the importance of history is very vital.
“The feed back I get from people who have visited the site is very positive. Although income is limited it needs to be defended as currently the village provides amazing value for money as an entertainment experience as well as a learning tool for local schools and even colleges.
“It also puts Vale of Glamorgan on the map as on big festival days people come from not just around Britain , but from around Europe to participate in the battle recreations.”
Indeed, following recent meetings with Cadw, the Assembly Governments historic environment division, Nick coles and Mr Ernest have recently secured funding from Creative Rural Communities, which could see Cosmeston step up onto the world stage in terms its service quality.
The first phase of the project will see Cosmeston receive an audio tour packages so that spectators of festival events will be able to instantly access the detailed history unfolding before their eyes, while on simply village days will help to enrich the experience of visiting the village. And the second phase will allow for all the costumes and armour used in the village to be given a more authentic
Rebbeca Hayes, Manager of Creative Rural Communities, said:
“This project aims to show how life will have changed in the village from the mid 14th century with a vibrant medieval community enjoying the benefits of post ‘black death’ Britain to the farmsteads of the 16th. This will enable Cosmeston to provide throughout the year a number of different events including ‘history through the ages’ and European Heritage weekend.
“I feel Cosmeston is a vital asset within the tourism offer in the Vale of Glamorgan as it offers a unique experience for visitors within the historical tourism sector. The element of living history and in particular the events Cosmeston successfully holds offers opportunities for those not usually engaged in history to gain educational experiences they would not normally choose to experience.”
As the heat of the day begins to swelter the valiant efforts of Prince Caradog to overthrow the oppressive rule of Lord William De-Caversham seem doomed to failure.
Fighting with short swords and pikes, with no archers, the ranks of the Welsh rebels are mown down and their front lines devastated. In a final bid for victory, Caradog challenges Lord William to single combat but after a flurry of blows is knocked to the ground and then executed.
The stunned crowd then looks on as hundreds of bodies, lying seemingly motionless in death, suddenly get back up laughing shed their heavy armour and leather and go for a much needed quaff and feast in their camps after a days hard fighting.
Ross O’Hennessy, 36, from Balckwood, otherwise known as Lord William De-Caversham himself, explained why living history is becoming such a popular past-time and spectator sport:
“Places like Cosmeston and living history events open peoples eyes to the gritty reality of history, and popular history based series such as Robin Hood and the Tudors have started to re-engage peoples fascination with a past age.
“The idea of Cosmeston and living history is to set the record straight. For instance we show people how the arms race began in the 14th Century with armour and arrows out competing each other for protection and penetration.
“A common myth we dispel would be that archers were individual stars in conflicts where as they were only useful in massed ranks, or that knights on horseback were able to fight like they do in the film, when in fact they were very cumbersome and only effective against rushing infantry to break their ranks.
“There is also the mythic notion of medieval chivalry which the Victorians promoted. The reality is rulers such as Edward I, through to King Henry V at Adjencourt, would often execute far more prisoners of war after a battle than were killed during it.”
Walking past a troupe of archers, massaging aching arms after releasing over a thousand arrows in just under an hour, Princess Catherine excitedly runs out of the group triumphantly brandishing her bow and proves that living history is not just fancy dress.
“This is amazing, I just proved the theory without doubt that women archers were not only used in battles but were just as effective as men, I just got the highest kill ratio of the whole garrison.”
The next event at Cosmeston Medieval Village will take place on May 30 from 11am to 5pm and will see the villagers of Cosmeston be invaded by time travelling Vikings, Greek Warriors, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Queen Victoria’s Redcoats and Pirates of the Spanish Main. For tickets and more information all 029 2070 1678.
