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| In camp before the fighting |
This afternoon the 2nd Battle of St Albans was re-enacted on
Bernards Heath, which is where most of the fighting took place in 1461. The re-enactment was by the
Medieval Siege Society and the day was organised by
Sandridge900 - as Bernards Heath was part of the parish of Sandridge until about 100 years ago. My wife and I really enjoyed the event which is of special interest as the part of Bernards Heath used was surrounded by my great grandfather
Jacob Reynolds'
farm before St Albans houses sprawled all over it.
An earlier re-enactment, in 1907, was not held on the Heath.
I was interested to see that my booklet,
A Short History of Bernards Heath, had been reprinted by the
Friends of Bernards Heath and was selling like hot cakes.
Read on for photographs of the fighting...
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| The last meal before the battle |
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| Marching into battle |
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| The archers take aim |
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| Hand to hand fighting |
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| Knights in Armour battle it out |
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| The Fighting is over |
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| The Prince of Wales & the Queen leave the field, followed by the King (in Green) |
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| Battle-weary soldiers leave the battlefield |
I wish to point out that the King (Henry VI) is the one in green. The young man in blue with the crown is the Prince of Wales. That is a prince's crown, with crosses and strawberry leaves. The King does not look splendid, as he has been the Yorkists' captive for several months, and is not in the best of mental health.
ReplyDeleteThanks - caption corrected. I was a long way from the action at the end - and the speaker was very difficult to hear - I I obviously failed to correctly identify who was who!
DeleteI admit I don't look very kingly, and this was intentional. I think the day before there was more pathos, as no one fetched the Queen, so the commentator had to tell the crowd to kneel and behold their King, who was cutting a really pathetic figure, bedraggled, confused, and wandering back into the trees.
DeleteLovely photos ~I wish I had been there!
ReplyDelete