The remains of Henry V's flagship, the Grace Dieu, lie in the river and medieval mercenaries take up camp.

Henry V of Agincourt fame also revived the English Navy to protect his communications. He had built a fleet of some of the largest ships known, of which the Grace Dieu was the greatest. The remains of the Grace Dieu lie in the River Hamble below Manor Farm Country Park and a heritage trail has been created through the beautiful woodlands there.
All his ships were equipped with Archers as part of the compliment of soldiers on board. As part of the celebrations of the project's completion The Medieval Free Company were at the Camp of Archers awaiting the call to go to sea on the Grace Dieu.

Manor Farm Country Park lends itself so well to the size and shape of our encampment. A beautiful, sweeping horseshoe of high trees acts as the stunning backdrop for our canvas and we were lucky again this year with the weather. Incredibly busy with interested and excited visitors that seemed just as passionate about medieval history as we did, the weekend just flew by. 

When we did get a chance to stop and eat, our wonderful cooks Mistress Tally and Miss Rebecca didn't disappoint and set our table with a most delicious set of dishes. On the menu this weekend were a rich lamb, lentil and fig stew, a salmon and leek pastry pie, a chicken and bacon pastry pie - all accompanied with bread and 'tent'made butter. To follow we had pears in cider and apricots soaked in mead. Whoever said medieval food was dull?!