LET BATTLE COMMENCE

Chris Hallam recounts the history of the Sealed Knot, which has specialised in re-enacting civil war battles for more than 50 years

- Chris Hallam

Have you ever pictured yourself on the field of a historic battle? Have you wondered how you might have fared at Edgehill, Marston Moor or Naseby? Would you have been risked life and limb to defend King Charles and the royalist cause in close combat? Or would you have braved the sharp blades, muskets and cannon fire of your opponents as you launched yourself into battle in the name of parliament, the people and Oliver Cromwell?

With time travel still an impossibility at the time of writing, it is unlikely anyone reading this will ever go through the experience of fighting in the English Civil War. The conflict which raged throughout the 1640s was bloody and wide-ranging. Indeed, as Wales, Scotland and Ireland all got sucked into the conflict, many historians now refer to it as the British Civil War.

Today, the closest thing any of us will ever get to experiencing the reality of engaging in a such a battle would be to participate in a full-blown historical reenactment.

The Sealed Knot has specialised in reenacting civil war battles for more than 50 years. It is the largest organisation to do this in Europe and has already organised re-enactments of the 1643 Siege of Gloucester at Stanway House, the 1644 Battle for Bidford Bridge in Warwickshire, and a civil war skirmish at Hartlebury Castle in Worcestershire, among many other events during 2023 alone.

Joining the Sealed Knot seems to be a simple enough matter. But what exactly would happen after that? Were I to join, how soon would it be before I found myself thrown into the hurly-burly of a simulated 17th century battle? I was also interested in how much say I'd get as to whether I'd be on the Roundhead or Cavalier side.