The Lincoln Castle Garrison was initially formed in 1985 and consisted of around a dozen people dedicated to shooting the traditional English Longbow. They would meet every Sunday to shoot in the grounds of Lincoln Castle and were known as the Lincoln Castle Longbowmen.
Over the next few years, the group began to grow and develop an interest in all aspects of medieval life, not just the longbow. In 1991, the staged one of the first "living history" events. All not as authentic as it could have been, the group turned Lincoln Castle back in time to the fifteenth century for 3 days - complete with chickens and goats!
From these beginnings the group began to research and move towards being a fully authentic group. That first big event brought in a flood of new members and provided the opportunity to begin doing medieval crafts ad cookery as well as the military side. The decision was taken to change the group's name to better reflect the more diverse experience we offered.
Thirty years later, the group is a family group with a wide variety of interests. We travel to various venues around the country, as well as our home at Lincoln Castle, to show you a little bit of fifteenth century life. Within the tented encampment you will find soldiers, archers, cooks, weavers, spinners, cutlers, dyers, games, leatherworkers and a surgeon.
The Lincoln Castle Garrison are also members of Livery and Maintenance and the Federation of the Wars of the Roses, attending larger scale events as part of these umbrella organisations. We are always looking for new members so feel free to have a chat to us at one of our events if you've ever wanted to give living history a try!