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Regia Anglorum is a society founded in 1986 to accurately re-create the life of the British people as it was in the one hundred years before the Norman Conquest. This does not prevent us from working in closely associated periods and we can easily stretch in time from the 850's to the Second Crusade. Saxons, Vikings, Normans and Cymry all equally fall within our area of expertise. Our work deliberately has a strong educational slant and we consider that authenticity is of the highest importance. We prefer to work from found material where possible and are extremely cautious regarding such things as the interpretation of styles depicted in manuscript sources. A large percentage of our membership are professional archaeologists or historians.
You may if you wish download our new members introductory information booklet as a PDF file. PDF files can be read with an Acrobat reader. If you should need one of these, you can download it from Adobe's web site. Check amongst your old computer CD's, you may have already been given Acrobat Reader as a freebie. The file is 2.02 meg in size, so it will take some time to download. Instead of dry text, there are colour and black and white images of Regia doing it's thing. From the PDF you may then also choose to print it out.
Click here to download the Regia Intro Brochure (2.02MB)
The Society and its members own a very large quantity of what might loosely be referred to as "props". These are all constructed to the highest standards working from available sources and include large-scale tents, looms, coin-striking equipment, cooking equipment and other museum-quality artefacts far too numerous to detail. These come together to form a Living History Exhibit of over forty tented structures from which the members teach and demonstrate some twenty or so different craft activities.
Regia Anglorum also specialises in combat re-enactment, the same stringent rules regarding authenticity being supplemented by on-going weapons training and inspections. Our awareness of safety is high and it is the only matter which takes precedence over authenticity in our work. The structure of public performances is deliberately arranged so as to inform whilst entertaining. Almost all our combats are open-ended and we do very little scripted fighting. This enables our field commanders to use real tactics in real-life situations, adding a tremendous frisson to the life or death feel of our military re-creations.
One of the perfectly justifiable concerns expressed by new members is in respect of battlefield safety. Certainly, if one stands back and watches a re-enactment display, it is often hard to see how people get up at the end of the battle and are not all carted off to hospital! And that is how it should seem to the observer. It should look, sound and smell dangerous - but in fact be comparatively safe.
Although we do what is reasonable in our judgement to ameliorate and foresee risk within the framework of current legislation and personal expectation, we are not a professional body and have no paid officials or officers. The society has an established training policy that is under constant scrutiny and is regularly revised where necessary. Our general outline policy has not changed much since our inception in 1986 and revisions and changes have always been of detail and intended to refine rather than entirely change. We are founder members of the National Association of Re-enactment Societies and our rules at least follow the Guidance Notes that are issued by that body from time to time, but usually exceed them.
We hold formalised training sessions at every society event, during which members are taught and their skills examined. Members under tuition must attend such practices if they are present at an event. A number of rubber stamps are used to mark the Membership Document of every member as they progress in their training.
The great majority of our combat is competitive, each combatant fighting to contact. Thus, one can register hits that "wound" or "kill".That contact is not, in the usual way of things, overly hard and we separately and corporately go to considerable lengths to ensure that the environment in which these weapons are used is as safe as it is possible to make it.
Occasionally, with the best will in the world accidents can happen amongst the most highly trained and experienced people. It is impossible to make the kind of combat that we undertake entirely safe and if this is a personal criteria for your becoming a member of our society, then I must regretfully inform you that this hobby is not for you! It is a condition of membership that each person accepts the risk of injury when they decide to join Regia Anglorum.
The society owns and operates five full-scale ships, the only society of our kind in the world to do so. One is a good replica of the Krampmakken Boat, another a copy of the Gokstad Faering. Both are capable of being rigged for sail and the Faering is frequently used in this way. We also own three GRP hulls, each over forty feet long. Originally commissioned by the Jorvik Viking Centre as replicas of the Skuldelev Wreck Three, these vessels have belonged to Regia Anglorum for nearly five years now. These too are propelled by oar and sail alone and one is currently in commission with our Shrewsbury group where our members frequently use it for river expeditions, exploring the upper reaches of the Severn River. We frequently use these ships for film and events work and have several exciting events in hand for the millennium year.
School visits and demonstrations within Key Stage Two and Three of the National Curriculum are a very important part of the work of the Society. A typical visit would take up a full morning or afternoon session to a several day visit and includes a brief talk, followed by inter-reactive demonstrations using reconstructed artefacts.
The Society acts as a minor publishing house, issuing booklets and pamphlets to its members on several occasions in a year. The most comprehensive of these is our Members Handbook, a 220-page A4 mine of information that becomes available for purchase upon acceptance of membership. Published at slightly below the printing cost, this work is by far the best volume of its kind in Early Medieval re-enactment. Our official journal is "Chronicle" which is posted direct to every member on or around the quarter days - the 21st of March, June, September and December. Running to nearly fifty high quality A4 pages per edition, "Chronicle" contains articles, book reviews, pictures and comment from both within the society and from external contributors. "Chronicle" is an efficient organ of communication, keeping our members well informed about upcoming events and normally containing event information and maps some time before the show.
The society derives much of its income from public events. In the past we have worked extensively for such Clients as the Jorvik Viking Centre, the Largs Viking Centre, English Heritage, the National Trust and various borough, city and district councils throughout the UK. We arrange major national events involving a high percentage of the membership medium sized area shows and minor local events, depending upon budget and client requirements. We take the view that an arena event should be both exciting to watch but safe to perform whilst arranging the most thrilling combat environment for members of all skill levels. Additionally, we arrange training weekends for our members and these might be maritime, living history crafts and/or combat training. At some major events - but not all - members can submit receipts to claim back their fuel expenses expended in travelling to the event. On other occasions there might be assistance with food or other site consumables. The society attempts to organise a range of events at different places throughout the UK in line with our scattered membership. All events are datelined in advance and may require members to take the role of Saxon, Vikings, Normans etc, depending on content and area. Assistance with travel by way of vehicle sharing is frequently arranged at group level.
Many of our members annually contribute to film work. They are financially reimbursed for their efforts and can expect decent working conditions, accommodation, expenses and three meals a day where appropriate. Recent work has been in Ivanhoe!, Ridgeriders, See You - See Me, Arms in Action, Great Ships, Ancient Warriors and, in the millennium year, Britannia!, a twelve part series for BBC TV.
We also supply replica artifacts for museums and interpretation centres and can produce such things from our own research to the highest guaranteed standards of accuracy.
For the very best in early medieval re-creation, you need look no further than Regia Anglorum.
For more information about our wide range of re-creative and recreational activities, your local group contact etc; please send an SAE to: Kim Siddorn
9, Durleigh Close
Headley Park
Bristol
BS13 7NQ. or e-mail him on membership@regia.org
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