Battles rage as the Sealed Knot end a season in Warwickshire

A bloody and bitter conflict took place in Little Kineton, as a divided nation took up arms against one another and engaged in battle.

The UK’s oldest re-enactment society concluded its season in Kineton on 27th October with their traditional re-enactment of the Battle of Edgehill.

The Sealed Knot held a wreath-laying ceremony at Kineton Sports and Social club and re-enacted a skirmish from one of the English Civil War’s first major battles between royalist and parliamentary forces.

Fought on the 23rd October 1642 near Edge Hill and Kineton, the battle saw both forces fight with inexperienced men and a decisive victor was unclear, leading the conflict to carry on for a further three years.

Every year, close to the anniversary, visitors are welcomed as the Sealed Knot hold a torchlit procession, display living histories and re-enact the battle in full period costume, complete with weaponry including cannons and muskets.

Andy Gowen, a member of Samuel Jones’ regiment, said: “You see people who may have come along to witness a bit of gun smoke suddenly start to understand that there were genuine lives attached to this. There was life and death happening on that field, to human beings like the rest of us, they were just put in an uncontrollable situation.

“The living histories included hearty stews being served to ensure no army fought on an empty stomach, and the vivid atmosphere created is an education in its own way.

“People engage and start to understand what a soldier’s life was like.

“What we’re creating is a microcosm of the battle, because both the armies were numbering 14 to 15,000, and there’s no way we could pull that off.”