aug06 Swynnerton Medieval Charter Festival

August 15th 2006 will be the 700th anniversary of the charter granted by Edward 1st to Roger de Swinnerton, for the holding of an annual fair in the village of Swynnerton, on the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Medieval fairs were always held on one of the feast or holy days of the church, when everyone had a holiday, thus enabling them to travel to the fairs. On this unique important occasion, the village is hoping to create the atmosphere of yesteryear, by organising a festival to be held on the previous Saturday, August 12th to celebrate the anniversary

The Lord Stafford has very kindly given us the use of two fields, one for car-parking and the other, a 45 acre field, to be used for all the entertainment, and confirmed bookings for some of these activities have already been received. These include jousting, two re-enactor camps, Buckingham's retinue supporting the Staffords, and Longshank's Knights supporting Edward 1st. We have also secured "Bubonic Plague", a medieval band, and the services of three trumpet heralds, for music during the parades through the village, the ceremony of the charter and also throughout the day's entertainment.

We do hope that you would like to be part of this "once in a lifetime" event, which we hope will bring together not only the people of Swynnerton and surrounding villages, but also visitors from Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford, and Nantwich etc.

Contact: Margaret Thompstone 01782-796605