Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th August 2024

10.00am to 5pm Saturday. 10.00 am to 4.30pm on Sunday

Great Chalfield Manor is a delightful late medieval manor house, which is well worth a visit any time. On the weekend of 10th and 11th August, there will be an extra reason to call in. The Marquess of Winchester’s Regiment (a regiment of the King’s Army within the English Civil War Society) will be re-enacting some of the events of early September 1644, at the height of the Civil War. Great Chalfield was held by Parliamentary forces, but they were ordered to quit the Manor which gave a Royalist force the chance to move in. It is this particular moment in time that will be re-enacted. 

You will be able to see the Royalist forces arriving and taking up their positions in a around the house. Deliveries of food and other goods will arrive. The soldiers will maintain guards around the manor. They will also be drilled in the use of their weapons. The officers will plan the defences. 

Normal life continues, whoever is in control of the House. A clerk will be in the Great Hall writing the accounts as happened in 1644. In the grounds there will be displays of ordinary civilian life, including kitchens preparing food for both the occupying soldiers and a rather more impressive meal for the officers and their ‘guests’ (captured Parliamentarian officers). 

Will the Parliamentarians attempt an attack to try to retake the Manor? Come along and find out! Try on armour. Find out how a musket works. Quiz for children to complete.

“It’s actually bringing history to life; you can really smell gun powder, hear the noise, and for children it gives them a sense of actually being there and makes history more interesting” (visitor comment).

Admission £6 for Adults, 16 years and under go free. Please note that these admission charges apply to all, including National Trust members. The money raised at this event contribute to maintenance and development of the Arts & Crafts gardens at Great Chalfield.

There will be a Holy Communion Service (Book of Common Prayer) in All Saints’ Parish Church at 10:00 am on the Sunday.

www.greatchalfield.co.uk