Arundel Castle and Colchester Oyster Fayre

A busy week last week and one that took me from the Bishop's Palace in Wells, to Christchurch Mansion House in Ipswich and then onto Arundel Castle in West Sussex.

The Yarnsmith
In the original early medieval keep at Arundel

Arundel is a huge castle with lots of history and like all major fortifications it has suffered over the years and also been restored and added to many, many times. It's that that still stands out about the place, for having just arrived and set up with my storytelling apprentice Kim, we decided to have an explore before I started telling and we stumbled upon a what I can only describe as a fantasy garden.

Oberon's Palace based on Inigo Jones 17th century design

For it turns out that the present owners (Still the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk) are still adding to the castle and it's estates and this new garden was inspired by the work of the famous early modern architect and stage designer, Inigo Jones and taken from a painting inside the main house.

Looking into the Oberon's Palace

Jones was well known for his innovative theatrical designs and clever inventions & effects, many used at court masques. This is reflected in the center piece of the garden - Oberon's Palace which was designed for Prince Henry's Masque in 1611 (Henry was the elder brother of Charles the 1st, but died whilst still a youth) And inside a crown neatly balancing on top of a fountain, which spins and bounces and bobs, but does not fall off.

The crown balancing on top of the fountain In Oberon's Palace

In that respect then the recreation of Jones design is fantastical, for just as some today might look down their noses at special effects, there were those who did the very same some 400 years ago. Ben Johnson, who wrote many of the masques that Jones designed stage sets for, regularly mocked Jones work saying that the literature was more important to theatre than the sets. Alas for Johnson there were many who disagreed and came to see Jones stunning effects, which must have galled Johnson no end!

Looking up in Oberon's Palace

I would have been one of those coming to see what wonders Jones came up with next and for me the fact that I first thought the garden at Arundel was a fantasy garden was not then a criticism. . I thought it was fantastic! A stunning recreation of the work of a creative genius of 400 years ago.

Detail of the main arch of Oberon's Palace

Another of Inigo Jones designs - the Park Temple

Inside the Park Temple

Part of huge Inigo Jones garden

Having told at Arundel on the Thursday I then went back to Ipswich on the Friday and in the evening I continued my storytelling journey onto the Colchester Oyster Fayre. The Oyster Fayer is my favorite historical fair in the whole country and anyone wanting to buy authentically made goods, from shoes to swords, to horn cups and phallic pewter badges, they would best be served by coming to the Oyster Fayre.

For me though it's the entertainment that really stands out and not just because I'm part of it! And this Year it was Melford hys Companie who really entertained one and all. They are part of the now famous living history group who have their base at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk. There are many offshoots and individuals who started at Kentwell and like the Melford players now travel all over the country to schools, museums and heritage sites, demonstrating and entertaining.

The cast of the St George mummers play including the Devil himself and a dragon with real smoke!

The Melfords put on mummers and other plays as they would have been in medieval and Tudor times - all very colorful, bawdy and with lots of interaction with the audience and crowd participation. This year they performed the St George mummers play which even featured a smoking dragon and the kids helping the quack Dr pull out George's guts! Jack Green who as 'Dr John Green' featured in an earlier blog on Nottingham Robin Hood Pageant that can be seen by going here... He played the 'evil' Saracen

Jack Green as the 'evil' Saracen



The boastful Dr of Physic attempting to cure St George



Kill or cure, with the help of some kids!



Finally out come his guts or is it sausages!

They then went on to perform the Reeve's Tale from Chaucer about two lusty students who get one over on a greedy miller. The tale is a bawdy one already, but Jack addedan extra earthy feel by playing a Chaucer type narrator who had to be dragged off stage for getting carried away with the dirty bits!

A case of mistaken identities and mixed up beds in the miller's mill From Chaucer's Reeves Tale



Jack Green again as a very bawdy Chaucer
Being dragged off before he went too far!

And finally they performed Chanticleer, inspired by Chaucer again and that involved everyone in the crowd being animals and giving chase to Reynard the fox when he took hold of Chanticleer the Cockerel. I really enjoyed the plays as did the huge crowds they drew in. From tiny kids to old people - everyone got the stories and jokes, which is something modern theatre could do with taking note of!

Chanticleer the Cockerel strutting his stuff!



Perching with his beautiful hens



Giving chase to Reynard the fox who has Chanticleer in his clutches
Even the audience joined the pursuit!

Thanks To Paul Ullson for inviting me to Arundel and Ted Loyde at the Oyster Fayre..

St Botolphs Priory, Essex

Me looking like a small yet rotund Henry VIII and my storytelling tent
inside the remains of the nave of St Botolphs Priory church
Click on any image to make larger

On Saturday last I was telling at St Botolphs Priory in Colchester. Its one of the earliest Augustinian foundations in the country (Built c.1100 it adopted the Orders Rule some time in the 13th century) And although now ruinous the remains of Norman arches, blind arcading (Filled in arches) and especially the huge circular pillars gives what's left a sense of permanence!

The West Door

The brick built blind arcading


Still a solid structure in places...

But what really stands out is the use of red brick in such an early medieval building and it turns out that its reused Roman brick. Colchester is after all a Roman town and talking to a the local history group who had a stall on site, it turns out that the early town was built almost entirely of brick because there is not much in the way of good quality local stone. This lack of good stone meant that the roman brick was much valued in medieval times and turns up in many buildings including the Priory and Colchester Castle, which is now a museum. They also pointed out that what little local stone was used was of such poor quality that it has eroded much quicker that the brick, thus making the brick stand out even more. And its true the remains do have an unusual red appearance that really stands out on a bright sunny day. I liked it because it made a change from many religious sites I tell at, which are dominated by fancy ornate carving and frilly bits! The ancient west doorway was enough for me and the simple carved chevron pattern gave it a truly ancient feel. The lack of good quality stone to carve gives St Botolphs a rustic feel; a no nonsense, unpretentious building, although I think that its sheer size would still have made it impressive to the early medieval visitor.

Close up of reused Roman brick

Detail from the West Door

In truth beyond what is here in my pictures there was not a lot else to see, so Sam and I contented ourselves with rooting about in the undergrowth to see what we could find. We both found bone; Sam finding a flattened piece that if human we think may have come from a shoulder blade, or perhaps from the pelvis. I found a bit which looks to have formed one end of the thigh bone of a large man! It might not be human though and could have come from a butchered animal, although even that would be good, for who knows it might have been from the last joint of meat served up at the Priory before it was dissolved by a greedy King called Henry and his even greedier men. Perhaps the Friars themselves were so discontented that they served up their own Prior! We can't be sure what age the bones are or from whence they came, although I have rooted about in enough churchyards in my time to know that there are plenty of human bones about!

A good days rooting about with bones, oyster shells & iron mystery object (See below)

We were on more certain ground with the huge amount of oyster shells we found. Certainly these were a common enough food in medieval times but also turn up on monastic sites like Bayham Abbey in Kent with pigment covering their inside surfaces. It seems that they made handy containers for pigments used for colouring illuminated manuscripts and perhaps for wall paintings as well.

The Oyster shells were good, but then Sam found a small metal ball which we first thought was a musket ball. We already new that Colchester had seen action during the English Civil War. But musket balls were made of lead or stone and from the corrosion we could see that this was clearly iron. Luckily local archaeologists from Colchester Museum were on site and they identified it as a bit of grapeshot; a collection of iron balls and other shrapnel, packed into a canvas bag or wooden cartridge and fired out of a cannon to do the greatest possible damage. And talking to the local history group they told us how the in 1648 the Royalists had been trapped in Colchester as they had marched north to meet up and form an alliance with the Scots (It wasn't really and English Civil War at all!) The Parliamentarians camped outside the town walls and lay siege for twelve weeks to the Royalists trapped within. And it just so happens that St Botolphs Priory lay directly between the opposing forces and was destroyed by their canon fire. St Botolphs was caught in the opposing forces crossfire. It was at this point that Sam reached into his pocket and brought out a little bit of that crossfire for the group to see and all fell silent!

History in your hand- Sam's 17th century grapeshot

So there you go, although the ruins themselves were impressive, they were not so impressive to us as a small iron ball. . Sam's little bit of crossfire in his pocket, a little bit of 360 year old history in his hand!

Thanks to Clive from Colchester Museums for the invite and his great choice of locations for my storytelling tent!