Guide: Kit maintenance – Fabric and clothing

Nobody can deny that re-enactment kit is expensive and most re-enactors invest a great deal of capital into it. With this in mind, it’s definitely helpful to keep your kit maintained so it lasts as long as possible. In this series of posts, we’ll show you how to maintain medieval re-enactment kit so it looks terrific for as long as possible.

A Garrison member by a display of period items of clothing in wool, linen and silk

Tutorial: A 14th Century hair and veil style

A popular fourteenth-century veil style is to have a pair of plaits framing your face which are visible under your veil.

You can see this style under these high-class ladies’ almost sheer veils (Luttrell Psalter (c.1325-1335 – BL Add MS 42130)

Here the lady has placed a hood over her plaits (Romance of Alexander, 1338-44, fol 59r)

Follow our tutorial to recreate it.

Guide: Medieval camp cooking

Cardiff Castle Garrison provides an authentic hot lunch cooked in our living history camp at many of our shows. For anyone interested in trying their hand at cooking for the group, or those who’d like to know a bit more about cooking authentically in camp, read on!

Guide: Modern foods unavailable in 14th Century Britain

Following on from our camp cooking guide, here is a list of common modern foods which were unavailable in fourteenth-century Britain. This list is by no means comprehensive, but is intended to cover most of the basics.

 

Show report: Newport Ship Open Day – October 2016

Cardiff Castle Garrison were thrilled to return to the Newport Ship for another Open Day. The charity are continuing to preserve the 15th Century timbers of the ship found in the River Usk in 2002, and hope to finish this process over the next year. They then plan to display the ship in a purpose-built museum.

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Show report: Caldicot Castle Medieval Weekend – 17th & 18th September

We enjoyed attending the medieval festival at Caldicot Castle on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th September.

This event was a multi society event with members of the Early Medieval Alliance, The Vikings, Historia Normannis, falconry displays, fashion shows and the historic jousting group Destrier in attendance.

Show report: Bank holiday at Caerphilly Castle – 28th & 29th August

Garrison had a lovely time this August bank holiday with a show at the thirteenth-century Caerphilly Castle.

Craft, clothing, cooking, weapons and armour displays were provided for the public.

Please check out our photos below, and thanks to everyone who came and made it such a fun event!

Setting up the night before the show

Erecting an authentic tent

The completed camp

Fresh bread from the cookery display

Ingredients waiting to be cooked

Cockles and black pudding; a meal appropriate for the fourteenth century and gaining popularity in gourmet pubs today

Mushroom and lentil main

A sea bass and stew dish being prepared

Group members around camp

Craft display

Spinning demonstration by two group members

Medieval bedding drying in the sun

Caerphilly Castle inner ward

East inner Gatehouse

View of the camp from the Inner Gatehouse

Show report: Grand Medieval Melee at Cardiff Castle – 13th & 14th August

Another old favourite this weekend at Cardiff Castle’s Grand Medieval Melee: a show Garrison have been attending for many years. As usual, we had a wonderful time demonstrating crafts, clothing, arms and armour, and even had authentic music provided by one of our members. Have-A-Go archery was also a great hit with the public. Thanks so much to everyone who came along and made it such a special show for us.

NB: Garrison are going to be super-busy over the next couple of weeks. Please drop in and see us at the Newport Ship Open Day on 20th August, or at Caerphilly Castle on 28th and 29th August. See our event page for more detail.

Garrison Have-A-Go archery for members of the public

Garrison encampment with craft and armour and weapons displays

Mark Vance’s medieval combat group in a display fight

Members of the public try on armour

Two group members demonstrating fingerloop braiding while another member plays music on a symphonie, an authentic instrument

Medieval craft displays: spinning and derssmaking

Authentic cooking underway

Various medieval encampments, including Garrison’s to the right

Weapons and armour display

Vegetables about to be cooked

Group members around the camp fire

Members of the public try have-a-go archery

Group members practicing combat

Cardiff Castle Normal Keep at night

Craft and armour and weapons displays

Show report: Big Cheese at Caerphilly Castle – 30th & 31st July

It was another amazing year greeting the thousands of visitors who came to Caerphilly’s Big Cheese at the end of July.

The event is a long-running cultural celebration set in and around Caerphilly Castle, and featuring large numbers of traders, street entertainers, falconry and a traditional fun fair.

We provided have-a-go archery for members of the public, and craft, arms and armour and cooking displays.

See our pictures below:

 

Caerphilly Castle viewed from across the moat

Weapons and armour display

Group member demonstrating armour to the public

Mixed shellfish with asparagus, samphire, spinach, and honeyed pork, cooked by group member Sarah

View from outside castle walls

Armour display

North-west Tower

Garrison encampment plus various traders in castle Inner Ward

Former apartments in castle Inner Ward

Show report: Joust! at Cardiff Castle – 17-19th June

We had a terrific time again at one of our favourites events – Joust! at Cardiff Castle.

The Garrison provided a full living history camp, with displays of fourteenth-century crafts, cookery and weapons and armour.

Check out our gallery for some lovely shots of our weekend (thanks so much Andrew Forster!).

Group members around the camp fire

Fourteenth-century weapons and armour display

Garrison camp with member carrying authentic crossbow

Group members practicing fourteenth-century crafts, including spinning, fingerloop braiding (an authentic method of making cord), embroidery and dressmaking

Craft display table featuring various fourteenth-century craft items, including fingerloop braiding, spinning, embroidery and tablet weaving

More complex fingerloop braids could be constructed with multiple people. Here, three group members are constructing a broad braid.

A Bayeux stitch embroidery copied from the Bayeux tapestry, using the same embroidery technique

Medieval toys: a horse and two hedgehogs. Linen and wool yarn were used to construct the horse and leather and rabbit fur for the hedgehogs.

Lambs’ hearts and brains. ‘Offal’. These cheaper cuts of meat were not wasted during the medieval period, as can be common today, and certainly made a lovely stew. A blog post on this recipe will follow soon.

A member playing a Symphonie: an authentic ancestor of the hurdy-gurdy. The instrument is played by turning the handle, which spins a wheel against strings inside the instrument box

A symphonie in an 11th century manuscript image (Symphonia de Cantiga 160, Cantigas de Sta. María de Alfonso X El Sabio, Códice de El Escorial. [1221-1284] Credit to G.Rosa – Imagén cedida por Retruso de Cela for image)

Cardiff Castle Norman keep, a 12th century addition to the castle