Viking camp to educate about an important period in history
A Wyre Forest arboretum was transported back to the ninth century as the Vikings set up camp.
Svartland Living History Society took to the fields of Bodenham Arboretum near Kidderminster to portray what life would be like in a Viking camp in the year 890.
Visitors to the camp on June 19 and 20 were able to see a faithful representation of the work done to cook and live on camp, with demonstrations of a range of skills on display.
Group leader Emily Lambert spoke about the group represented and how they reenacted what Vikings did on camp.
She said: "We are portraying a time when there would have been Vikings wandering around this area, with settlements such as Danesford in Shropshire.
"The period we are in is when the Vikings would have been still invading and raiding, but would also be settling and working as traders who have banded together to try and find a place in the area."
Svartland Living History Society concentrate on and specialise in demonstrating a variety of Viking Age crafts and skills, with Ms Lambert saying the weekend event was about more than just the raiding side.
She said: "It wasn't just about the fighting and raiding, but was also about the social history and structures, as well as the fashions of the time and the food they ate and the jobs that they did.
"I told someone we were going to do a Viking fashion show, to which he looked at me and said 'Oh yeah, Vikings are well-known for their fashion', but he was quite surprised by what he saw.
"The reception has been really good today, with a lot of people walking around and engaging with the members of Svartland and asking about the different arts and crafts."
Ms Lambert said the biggest part of the day had been about educating people and challenging preconceived and stereotypical ideas about Vikings.
She said: "We have a lot of women and children in the group and what people don't tend to know is that even the raiders had a tendency to take their families along on bigger raids.
"We had a lot of school children here today, who are learning about Vikings at school, and I think this is definitely something you can't learn about in the classroom.
"I'd like people to take away a new knowledge of Vikings and realise that there is a rich culture here which is an important part of English heritage and culture."
To find out more, go to facebook.com/svartland.vikings/.
