Welcome to the Free Company
So, who are The Free Company?
The Free Company, The Tudor Household, also Known as SCUM, is one of the South of England's longest-established Living History associations, having been organising, providing consultation services to and participating in a wide range of history-based events and presentations both at home and abroad for the best part of forty years.
Our activities at events range from Living History and craft demonstrations, to small scale combat, drill and dramatic displays, to Napoleonic engineering presentations. Plus participation in grand scale parades, marches and mass combat.
Our main periods of interest are Medieval (Wars of the Roses and Early Landsknecht, with sallies into 11th to 13th century for special commemorations) and Napoleonic - although over the years we have ventured into a wide range of other periods for specific, sometimes perhaps less authenticity-focused, events; performing roles as varied as pirates, royalty, Copyrighted Cartoon Celts (no names, no pack drill), smugglers - and even orcs.....
As well as our formal title of The Free Company our group is old enough to be "known by many names".
Thus at Wars of the Roses Federation events, since we generally represent members of the the Tudor Household, we appear under that name (or, more simply, "The Tudors").
For many other events we go under our old 80s "fighting name" of the South Coast Unaffiliated Mercenaries (hence "SCUM").
In our Napoleonic incarnation we are the (les?) Sapeurs du Genie, and occasionally The Royal Sappers & Miners.
We are regular attendees at most of the major Fifteenth Century Living History and Reenactment gatherings here in the UK (Bosworth, Tewkesbury, Mortimers Cross, Barnet et al), the world famous Peter & Paul Fest in Bretten, Germany (since 1996; pic below with our "sister company" Landsknechte Bretten 1504), a selection of Napoleonic reenactments in the UK and on the Continent, English Heritage's "Battle of Hastings", The Battle of Lewes and Battle of Evesham commemorations (13thC) and a variety of "multi-period meets" and Living History shows at home and abroad.
We also participate in the odd "Medieval Fayre", Lewes Bonfire Parade and many other events; from small charity galas to school and museum presentations to international pageants home and overseas.
The group has been involved as participants, organisers and/or consultants for many major prestige events here in the UK.
These include including the Portsmouth 800 celebration, the Armada Commemoration, The Battle of Lewes 750 Festival, English Heritage's 2018 Dover Castle Tudor Pageant and others overseas, as far afield in space and time as the Battle of Waterloo Bicentenary 1815, Leipzig "Battle of the Nations", The Battle of Pavia and Renaissance Carnevale di Venezia.
Our group's participation in feature films, documentaries and television drama over the decades has been such that the "I know that face" phenomenon is a regular viewing hazard.
We have, for a long time, been known for producing original skits and "dramatic interludes" for events; including our much asked-for "The Wars of the Roses In Twenty Minutes".
Like all good mercenaries we are open to hire.
If you had to sum up our overall attitude to our activities it would be to "take the job seriously, but have a heck of a lot of fun doing it".
And The People Involved ?
Free Company was formed in the mid-eighties by the coming together of various reenactors from different groups in the South East of England.
In the spirit of these early beginnings, while maintaining a core of regular members, we still welcome other groups (and stray individuals and former members who have moved away) into our fighting block and to our own events.
It is this openness and the camaraderie that comes with it, along with the expertise of decades that our members and associates bring with them, and our willingness to work closely with other groups which we believe, enhances the reenactment experience for public and participants alike.
Originally Sussex-based, our members are now spread across the countries of the UK and beyond (like the events we cover); but we still have a core of local Sussex members and shows which we attend regularly in the Sussex/Kent area, from Hever Castle to Hastings to Lewes to Loxwood, as well as a range of small fete or charity events.
Many of our members and associates are involved in other aspects of Living History or historical interpretation, either individually or as members of other groups and societies, be that as as general reenactors, professionals or skill specialists (for example mounted displays, artillery displays, cookery or experts in specific historical periods). We like that; believing that the Living History community is the stronger through having a wide experience and interest base, with plenty of inter-group cooperation, cross fertilisation and friendliness.
Our members hail from all walks of life and backgrounds - from professional Living History practitioners to ex-servicemen to tradesmen to teachers to members of the Emergency Services - and come in all ages (we are a "family friendly" group) from kiddies to retirees.
Basically everyone with enthusiasm and commitment is welcome to join us - and if you are already a reenactor or member of another group, and find yourself lonely at an event, come and fight alongside us. We rarely bite...
If you would like to know more about us and what we do or how to become involved, plus view our current plans, please visit our other pages or contact us.
Many thanks,Free Company
Our activities at events range from Living History and craft demonstrations, to small scale combat, drill and dramatic displays, to Napoleonic engineering presentations. Plus participation in grand scale parades, marches and mass combat.
Our main periods of interest are Medieval (Wars of the Roses and Early Landsknecht, with sallies into 11th to 13th century for special commemorations) and Napoleonic - although over the years we have ventured into a wide range of other periods for specific, sometimes perhaps less authenticity-focused, events; performing roles as varied as pirates, royalty, Copyrighted Cartoon Celts (no names, no pack drill), smugglers - and even orcs.....
As well as our formal title of The Free Company our group is old enough to be "known by many names".
Thus at Wars of the Roses Federation events, since we generally represent members of the the Tudor Household, we appear under that name (or, more simply, "The Tudors").
For many other events we go under our old 80s "fighting name" of the South Coast Unaffiliated Mercenaries (hence "SCUM").
In our Napoleonic incarnation we are the (les?) Sapeurs du Genie, and occasionally The Royal Sappers & Miners.
In our Napoleonic incarnation we are the (les?) Sapeurs du Genie, and occasionally The Royal Sappers & Miners.
We are regular attendees at most of the major Fifteenth Century Living History and Reenactment gatherings here in the UK (Bosworth, Tewkesbury, Mortimers Cross, Barnet et al), the world famous Peter & Paul Fest in Bretten, Germany (since 1996; pic below with our "sister company" Landsknechte Bretten 1504), a selection of Napoleonic reenactments in the UK and on the Continent, English Heritage's "Battle of Hastings", The Battle of Lewes and Battle of Evesham commemorations (13thC) and a variety of "multi-period meets" and Living History shows at home and abroad.
We also participate in the odd "Medieval Fayre", Lewes Bonfire Parade and many other events; from small charity galas to school and museum presentations to international pageants home and overseas.
The group has been involved as participants, organisers and/or consultants for many major prestige events here in the UK.
These include including the Portsmouth 800 celebration, the Armada Commemoration, The Battle of Lewes 750 Festival, English Heritage's 2018 Dover Castle Tudor Pageant and others overseas, as far afield in space and time as the Battle of Waterloo Bicentenary 1815, Leipzig "Battle of the Nations", The Battle of Pavia and Renaissance Carnevale di Venezia.
Our group's participation in feature films, documentaries and television drama over the decades has been such that the "I know that face" phenomenon is a regular viewing hazard.
We have, for a long time, been known for producing original skits and "dramatic interludes" for events; including our much asked-for "The Wars of the Roses In Twenty Minutes".
Like all good mercenaries we are open to hire.
If you had to sum up our overall attitude to our activities it would be to "take the job seriously, but have a heck of a lot of fun doing it".
If you had to sum up our overall attitude to our activities it would be to "take the job seriously, but have a heck of a lot of fun doing it".
And The People Involved ?
Basically everyone with enthusiasm and commitment is welcome to join us - and if you are already a reenactor or member of another group, and find yourself lonely at an event, come and fight alongside us. We rarely bite...
If you would like to know more about us and what we do or how to become involved, plus view our current plans, please visit our other pages or contact us.
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