Re-enactments in Yorkshire
The days of shuffling around dusty museums or crumbling stately homes to learn about our heritage has long gone. Today, historical re-enactments bring Yorkshire’s past to life whether it is a display of knights battling it out on horseback or a lesson in medieval cookery. But it could even be something as simple as trying on a knight’s helmet or chatting to a medieval monk!
The aim of these live events at heritage sites is to give everyone a really fun day out. Hopefully visitors will learn a little about how our ancestors lived at the same time. Live events bring the true stories of Yorkshire history to life.
Yorkshire leads the rest of the country in staging live events like these at historic abbeys, castles, houses and gardens. Many great ideas start in Yorkshire, then they get used elsewhere later. So you’ll see the latest and best re-enactments here. Thanks to the help of experts from the Royal Armouries Museum (www.royalarmouries.org/leeds) in Leeds you’ll also be able to see some of the most professional re-enactors in the world.
Happily in Yorkshire we are blessed with a wide scattering of heritage sites that have a great range of stories to tell. Scarborough Castle (www.scarboroughcastle.co.uk/) for example has a history stretching right from the Iron Age to World War II.
Visitors to historic properties in Yorkshire in 2005 were treated to wonderful live events that ranged from a Viking attack on the monastic treasures at Whitby Abbey (www.whitbyabbey.co.uk) to treasure-trails through Brodsworth Gardens looking for models of the fairies that captivated Victorian visitors. Across the region actors appeared as everything from King James I to humble knights’ valets.
Visit an ancient site in Yorkshire and you may see colourful fireworks displays or an enchanting illuminated period garden, you may learn the secrets of an archaeological dig or the escape plans of WWII PoWs. You may meet Bram Stoker or a Victorian female pirate. History can be great fun!