Jump to: Facebook, Places to Visit, Resources for Children, Military, Living History
Useful Facebook pages
Norfolke Trayned Bandes – For members past present and future. A fairly active, friendly group, where people post photographs chat about musters and generally socialise.
ECWS – not a very busy group, but you get some good photos and videos posted there.
Transport Sharing Group ECWS – Very useful group for finding other people who want to travel to the same event as you do.
Places to Visit
National Civil War Centre – in Newark. Family friendly museum, with features to assist children with ASD.
Little Woodham – 1642 Village – A re-enactment village near Gosport, in Hampshire, in which it is always 1642. Great reconstructions of buildings from the civil war era, including an inn, an apothecary, a blacksmith, the woodworker, a pottery kiln, a weaver, etc. The inhabitants are very knowledgeable, and can demonstrate how to dip candles, how to do your laundry, and all sorts of other things. Recommended for children as well as adults. Check opening dates on their website. Facebook
Bullace Farm – The farm used for filming Tales From the Green Valley. It is open to the public and schools on a limited basis. You may need to book beforehand.
Of course, if you are a member of the Norfolk Trained Bands, then you may be able to visit the farm for a week as one of the re-enactors for when schools are visiting. ☺ We have a long association with the farm.
Resources for Children
Tales From the Green Valley – Filmed in 2005, this 12 part BBC series follows a group of people working on a farm using only 1620s tools and methods. It interesting, informal, educational, and occasionally hilarious. Young children would probably find it dull, but even they will fall about laughing at the scene where they’re trying to ground up some piglets. I knew a ten year old who was a bit bored at the start, then really got into it and ended up demanding to see all the remaining episodes.
The Complete English Civil War in Ten Minutes – A rapid cartoon romp through the entire Civil War. The placards held by some of the characters provide excellent entertainment for adults and children alike. It really does cover all the key points.
The Recruiter”s Guide to the English Civil War – Pike – This video will probably appeal to both adults and children. It’s informative about the clothes and armour worn by a pikeman and demonstrates the moves that he would need to be able to make with his pike. It also has a tongue in cheek sense of humour that hits the spot perfectly.
English Civil War Soldiers Facts & Worksheets – Facts for 11-14 and 14-16 year olds, for GCSE and A level practice.
Military
Norfolk Trained Bands – A straightforward Wikipedia history of the Norfolk Trained Bands from their origin in 1558 through to 1715. They didn’t have much actual involvement in English Civil War, but what there was is listed here.
Useful Resources for Living History
What to wear in the English Civil War – 1642 Tailor – A good guide to type of clothing worn by women and soldiers during the English Civil War.
The nature of tent use in the English Civil Wars – a well-researched, and well illustrated, article by Tim Edwards. The article makes it clear that soldiers would normally have slept in billets (ie. Requisitioned civilian buildings), but it also notes that officers may have had tents, and that there were a few situations where soldiers would have been issued with tents. The design of tents, fabrics, and the techniques for making them are also discussed. For further reading, he recommends A.J.Rowland’s “Military Encampments of the English Civil Wars”, published by Stuart Press.
Popular ballads of 17th century – A fantastically well researched site which will appeal to anyone with an interest in songs of the period. For each ballad, you get a photograph of the original broadsheet, the lyrics typed out for you, a recording of someone singing the song, and a mass of historical information comparing it to other songs with the same tune or with the same theme.
How to make a woman’s smock from the 1600s – a useful video by Elin Abrahamsson.
If you want to make your own costume from scratch, then the re-enactors markets are good places to buy clothing, or fabric to make your own.
If you have a copy of ‘Clothes of the Common People’ by Stuart Peachy (available from Stuart Press), then this is a very similar pattern, but the video is useful in understanding how to assemble it. It’s particularly useful when working out how wide to cut your fabric, and how to make the neck.
How to make a typical man’s shirt for combat –
You need enough linen fabric for the following:
Body: rectangle double finished length (shoulder to knee or shorter if preferred) by width (originally the width would have usually have been the fabric width ~30″)
How wide to cut the body: When calculating the width for the body, remember that the neckline is gathered, and that this will pull in a lot of fabric. The wider you make the neck slit, the more gather you will need, and the wider you need to make the fabric used for the body. The gather gives the garment a loose fit, which makes for easier arm movement and better ventilation in hot weather.
‘Clothes of the Common People’ (available from Stuart Press) suggests a neck slit around 20 inches across. That means you’ll need to make the body four inches wider on each side.
Sleeves: 2 rectangles, one for each arm, length should be comfortably loose round upper arm.
Gussets: two underarm square about 4″ plus seam allowance; for where the sleeve joins the body – ie. underarm.
Gussets: two neck – insert into neck slit close to shoulder. neck/shoulder triangle about 2″ plus seam allowance. (They make it easier to sew on the neck band and give a better shape to the neck)
Gussets: two hip triangles: hip triangle about 3″plus seam allowance – Reduce strain at the bottom of the side seams. Leave the bottom of the side seams un-sewn for ease of tucking in, and insert the gusset at the end of the stitching (Stitch two edges, hem the third).
Cuffs (optional, can just hem wrist instead). When cutting out collar band, remember that it should be shorter than the end of the sleeve, as it’s gathered into the cuff.
Collar band, both doubled, with tapes for closure. The collar should be fairly narrow, and stand upright when finished. Cut on straight grain, not bias. When cutting out collar band, remember that it should be shorter than the neckline, as it’s gathered into the collar band.
Make T-shaped slit for neck opening and sew gusset into two shoulder ends then gather onto collar band, slip stitch over raw edges and hem front opening
Stitch sleeves onto body, then gussets into the corner, then stitch sleeve/gusset/side seam to hip, with final gusset before leaving tails open (for cuff leave bottom of sleeve seam open for access)
Gather sleeve onto cuff and slip stitch over raw edge
Finally hem tails/lower edge
Run and Fell Seams: Linen frays very easily. To make your seams last, you need to run and fell them. How to make a Run and Fell/aka Flat Fell seam.
Fastenings: Sew on linen tape for fastenings at collar and cuff.
Sewing with a thimble – If you use this technique with a thimble on your middle finger to aid the push of the needle, it can make things like hemming a lot easier and faster. (There was a time when this technique was taught in schools.)