Stonham Barns' gripping Viking and Saxon battles and fascinating re-enactments bring record crowd of 2,000

A historical re-enactment festival attracted record crowds and participants as it rolled back the centuries to display various fascinating aspects of life in the times of Saxon and Viking people.

Having only launched in 2018, the annual event, which took place at Stonham Barns in Stonham Aspal at the end of October, attracted crowds of almost 2,000 people – almost double the 1,100 who attended last year.

Visitors were able to explore traditional jewellery crafting and coin stamping techniques, along with Saxon and Viking food, drink and music.

Taking centre stage was a series of action-packed battles as re-enactment groups locked swords to give a taste of how disputes were settled years ago.

“We have almost doubled our visitor numbers in one year and trebled our number of participants, with around 250 people involved in the events and activities this year, including one group from Belgium,” said festival organiser and participant Fraser Carson.

“Visitors have really enjoyed seeing history portrayed in an accurate, yet fun way, and seeing these people and their history brought to life in our Viking and Saxon camps.

“We’ve had numerous historical crafting displays, traditional food and drink, not to mention the more hands-on activities like have-a-go archery and axe throwing.

“We’re planning a two-day festival next year and hope we can get 500 people taking part, along with even bigger crowds to make us one of the largest dark-ages events in the country,” he added.