As an Event Organiser you will want to know what you should expect when you engage us for your show.
Weorod are set within the early medieval era, a time that some still perceive as the 'Dark-Ages'. We focus on the years between 425 and 680 AD, the 'Early' or 'Pagan' Anglo-Saxon period. Loosely this equates to the years after the Romans left Britain until 100 years before the beginning of The Viking Age.
Our members have extensive experience of providing displays for organisations and venues of all types and sizes. From village fêtes, multi-period events and shows at National Trust properties such as Sutton Hoo through to days at local museums, where we can help your visitors interpret the artefacts on display and bring our surroundings to life.
With a sound basis in local archaeology (wherever possible our replica items are based on local finds), we do our utmost to be interesting, relevant and accurate in our displays and presentations. We have a justly deserved reputation for historical accuracy in addition to the quality and authenticity of our kit and we are predominantly interested in sharing our enthusiasm for the period with your visitors. We always ensure that we keep peoples' attention throughout the day - not just during any timed displays.
We pride ourselves on our attention to detail, ensuring that your visitors are always in a professional, welcoming and stimulating environment. We never forget that the satisfaction of your public will be key to the success of your Show and please be assured that this is equally important to us.
We normally commit to around six weekend events per year and we like to keep our booking process as simple as possible. We will need to check availability with our membership, prior to discussing times, access and fees with you as well as exploring your vision for the event to ensure that we will exceed your expectations. In addition to five million pounds Public Liability Insurance certification, we will, of course, provide you with copies of our standard Health and Safety Policy Documentation and associated Risk Assessments.
We provide a high quality service for event organisers, but please feel free to check our 'Feedback' tab at the top of the page to see what other Heritage Professionals have thought of our delivery. And, to give you further confidence, all of the photographs on this page have been taken at live events, like yours, in order to give you some ideas as to the standard of display to expect, should you decide to enquire about our availability for your show. You will find more images on our Facebook and Twitter feeds, linked at the very top of the page.
We display a range of weapons and armour in use throughout our given period. These will include shields, seaxes, spears, axes, swords, helmets and chain-mail amongst others. Most items in our 'armoury' will be museum quality replicas based on actual finds from our time period - many of which will have a local provenance. Some will be available for visitors to inspect closely - and some items will even be available for handling.
Our presentations tend to have an educational bias. We offer various set pieces, all based within the local archaeological record. Outdoors, some of these will involve an element of Re-enactment Combat to demonstrate how the different weapons of the time may have been used. We do not offer anything along the lines of a 'pitched battle'. If you are looking for a large 'spectacle' or an 'arena battle' you should contact one of the national groups (such as Regia Anglorum for example) to discuss your requirements.
Many Crafts are practiced by members of the group, who are more than happy to discuss tools and techniques with your audience. Skills on display may include anything from bone working to braid weaving, pottery to chain mail manufacture and leechcraft to leatherwork. We endeavour to provide an educational and informative demonstration of a variety of crafts and skills for each and every event that we participate in.
One of our fundamental aims is complete approachability. Your public can come into our encampment where they can ask questions and find out about the activities that we are demonstrating. We will offer as much information as we can, in as much depth as our skills and knowledge allow. Please be assured that we take the precaution of ensuring that any fires are roped-off, and all sharp blades are constantly supervised.
We are currently unable to offer week-day school visits due to the full-time work commitments of our membership. However, many of our local museums now offer high quality packages for school groups, both within the schools themselves or at the museum facilities. Some of them also offer loan boxes and all kinds of other support materials tailored to the requirement of school groups and the National Curriculum. Please contact your local museum for more information.
Failing this, there are specialist companies out there who provide services for the schools market - If this is the best route for your school, then we always find 'Trench1' - based in Romsey - to be full of enthusiasm.
Please e-mail us via the 'Contact Us' page.