Wars of the Roses brought back to life at Bolling Hall (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Wars of the Roses brought back to life at Bolling Hall

10:19pm Sunday 25th September 2011 in Bradford By James Rush

Stuart Ivinson ready for action at Bolling Hall

The sights and sounds of the bloody Wars of the Roses were brought to life over the weekend as a chapter of Yorkshire’s medieval history was revealed.

Actors in medieval costume staged a re-enactment and pitched up camps at Bolling Hall, Bradford, as part of the Living History Weekend.

Hundreds of families visited over the course of both Saturday and Sunday, as the Frei Compagnie and the Towton Battlefield Society offered people the chance to take part in archery demonstrations, discover how doctors carried out medieval medicine and watch gunnery demonstrations and knights in battle.

Liz McIvor, curator of social history for Bradford Museums and Galleries, said the event was to help bring to life the often not well-known history of 1461 in Yorkshire.

“People have been able to come and see a little bit about what life would have been like at a place like this during the Wars of the Roses, in the late medieval period.”

Mrs McIvor said during the Wars of the Roses, the Bolling family fought alongside the House of Lancaster.

She said: “It was actually more to do with people’s estates rather than geography. It might have been lots of Yorkshire men were actually fighting against the House of York, who might have had soldiers in the south of the country.”

The event was party funded and organised by historian and author Peter Algar.

Mrs McIvor said: “It’s been really successful – there’s been lots of visitors. The reason we are doing this is to try to being this period of history to life. It’s a period people know very little about.”

Brenda Lynch, 64, of Buttershaw, visited the hall with her eight-year-old grandson Thomas Turner.

She said: “All the family have been up earlier on – we’ve been through the house and been in the ghost room and we’ve been watching some of the archery. I think it’s brilliant for the kids – it’s good because you’re giving them a history lesson while you’re here.”

Helen Doggett, secretary of the Frei Compagnie, said hundreds of families had visited on Saturday alone.

She said: “We are delighted with how it has gone – we have had a great crowd.”