WakeHereward Project
Forgotten hero..
Freedom fighter..
Legend..
Rory G as
HEREWARD
Come See...
Folkingham Heritage Festival at
Folkingham Castle
Sunday 19th September
'Hereward Returns'
''Slaughter of the Normans'
Arranged by Aveland History Group
Hereward as performed by Rory Gibson
Hereward Returns!
'Slaughter of the Normans'
It was 954 years ago in September of 1067 when an exiled English rebel called Hereward fared quietly into South Lincolnshire by boat with just one man-servant, Martin Lightfoot. Hereward returned home to claim his inheritance after hearing of his father's death, yet when he arrived he was told by some of his men that a group of drunken Normans had taken over his father's house, killed his brother and were holding his mother against her will in her own house. Approaching the house Hereward found his brother's head had been decapitated and hung over the entrance to the family estate, angered by this Hereward leapt from the shadows and slaughtered the lot... The next morning 14 Norman heads were seen hanging above the entrance to his father's estate, his legend grew...
'Almost all the French in that area, greatly alarmed,
abandoned the lands that had been assigned to them and fled...'
(Gesta Herwardi)
This was the point in history when Hereward began his rebellion against William the Conqueror.
An early twelfth century source, commonly known as the Gesta Herwardi describing the life of Hereward as a soldier
informs us that it was at this point that...
'Hereward gathered together in that place 49 of the bravest
men from his paternal inheritance and from his kinsfolk,
equipped withall the requirements of military armour'
(Gesta Herwardi)
Come to Folkingham Castle on Sunday 19th September to experience Hereward returning from a long exile and meet with him and his Band of Men before he clashes with the Normans...!
More news to follow...
Folkingham Heritage Festival
Folkingham Castle
Folkingham,
Sleaford
NG34 0SG
Arrangers: Aveland History Group
The Hereward Returns! re-enactment event will feature medieval re-enactor Rory G as Hereward who returns home to Lincolnshire after many years in exile fighting as a mercenary soldier to great acclaim.
The Folkingham Heritage Festival begins at 11am on Sunday 19th of September on Folkingham Castle field. The first scene of the
'Hereward Returns!' event starts at 11:15am and is centred
on the plight of the famous Lady Godiva who,
as legend has it, is Hereward's mother.
​
Lady Godiva will be performed by historical re-enactor Heather Bailey
who breaks loose and rushes from her home, appealing to the audience
for help to rid the area of those cursed Normans, while lamenting the death of her young son and foreboding the return of Hereward.
Historical re-enactor Heather Bailey will perform the role of Hereward's mother,
the famous Lady Godiva.
'HEREWARD RETURNS!'
4 x Part Re-enactment
​
Act 1: 11:15am - 'Lady Godiva's Lament'
featuring Heather Bailey as Lady Godiva
& Stephen Hansen as Oger the Breton.
Act 2: 12:30pm - 'Hereward Returns!'
featuring Rory G as Hereward
& 'Roy' Rojus J. Joksas as his close companion and aide de camp Martin Lightfoot. Hereward is welcomed home after a long exile by the village folk and he regales tales.
Act 3: 1:45pm - 'Weapons & Warfare inside Hereward's Camp' featuring a talk on weaponery of the age and stories about Hereward. Featuring a presentation by Luke Marshall as Geri & Matt Greatrex as 'The Sickle', Hereward's close companions and Armourers.
Act 4: 3:00pm - 'The Slaughter of the Normans'
featuring Rory G as Hereward, Heather Bailey as Lady Godiva, Stephen Hansen as Oger the Breton & Roy J. Joksas as Martin Lightfoot and a group of drunken unarmed Normans played by various re-enactors
Every good drama must have a villian, so step forward stalwartof the re-enactment scene Stephen Hansen who will perform the part of Oger the Breton the Lord of the Manor who takes over Hereward's father's house and who meets the wrath of Hereward after he killed his brother and held his mother prisoner in her own home.
When Hereward was exiled he left his homeland with one companion, young Martin Lightfoot, his man-servant and bodyguard.
Martin Lightfoot is performed by Rojus 'Roy' J. Joksas for the second time, after he walked the Hereward Way in June as that character in the Hereward Charity Challenge..
Martin returns home with Hereward in Act 2 and is prominent in the action from that moment.
Stephen Hansen as the nasty Oger the Breton
Roy Joksas as Hereward's aide-de-camp Martin Lightfoot