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.
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
Cardiff Castle Garrison 