MONMOUTH was once again invaded by rival Parliamentarian and Royalist armies over the weekend, in a re-enactment of the Battle of Monmouth, first fought in 1644.

The event was organised as part of Monmouth School's 400th anniversary, and involved hundreds of members of the Sealed Knot Society re-enactment group, which was actually founded by an old boy of the school: Brigadier Peter Young.

Simon Jarvis, Second In Command of the Sealed Knot's Sir Henry Vaughan's Regiment told the Review: "We had an absolutely fantastic weekend. Everything went to plan, and the town itself came alive on both days.

"Saturday saw us occupying the town, and we posted troops and artillery on the old Monmouth bridge. Then, as part of the cameos that we ran, there was suddenly a plague epidemic in town – complete with a plague doctor! 'In Shire Hall we enacted military and civil court proceedings in the splendid old court rooms, while outside a very loud preacher shouted at the crowds. Then, after we had dined, a proclamation was issued that we should do battle on the following day.

"Sunday was a very busy day, starting with letting the public visit our Living History Camp – which was a total of 16 tents with live displays of how life was like during the Civil War era, even down to cookery demonstrations and the sort of games that they played."

Later on, the troops were mustered and the battle was held on the school playing fields, with realistic, and fierce, fighting, accompanied by the shouts and screams of the troops, and the roar of artillery, echoing around the area.

Simon added: "We finished with a talk about Brigadier Peter Young, who founded the Sealed Knot in 1968. We also presented the school with a portrait of him to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the school."