Hale! Harewood goes medieval

The grounds were transformed into a living timeline of the country for Harewood’s annual Medieval Faire.

From 11th Century Norman settlers and Saxon vikings, through to 12th and 13th century knights and the 14th century Anglo-Saxons of Mercia to 15th century War of the Roses, re-enactors dressed in authentic clothes created typical settlements to demonstrate how people lived throughout these periods.

From medieval times come romantic stories of brave knights and honest rogues robbing from the rich to give to the poor – but the jousting demonstrations and battle re-enactments showed there was actually quite a bit of gore around in those days!

The fair was a full weekend of events including camping and a medieval banquet on Saturday night; a medieval market selling clothes, homewares and even weaponry, an archaeological dig, historical talks, tours of Harewood’s 14th century castle and 15th century church – and even the chance to fire a longbow, which I tried and decided I needed much more practice at before I could join a band of outlaws.

I’ve always been fascinated by medieval history and seeing living, breathing displays of customs and practices from 1,000 years ago is a wonderful way to learn about our country through the middle ages.

I’ll definitely be going back in time next year!