MORE people than ever attended this year’s Medieval Day at Launceston’s Priory with families and individuals enjoying the various displays and activities on site and at St Thomas’ Church Hall.

The Friends of Launceston Priory and experts from the Cornwall Records Office arranged this ‘Medieval Day’ aiming to celebrate what we know and what we are still discovering about the Priory’s function and achievements when it was active between 1155 to 1539 including the ‘The break with Rome’ or ‘the English Reformation’.

Adults and children alike enjoyed the option of wearing medieval clothing available for the day. Replica medieval bowls, cutlery, candle holders, coins and various games played by adults at the time were available to view and handle. Children enjoyed creating quill pen writing on parchment type paper and sealing it with a waxy material. An archaeologist gave demonstrations in the Priory grounds using mini excavation boxes, cord winding and medieval stained glass window making.

Information about the Cornish language spoken during this medieval time was available.

Refreshments were kindly donated by Tesco.

A model of the Priory and a marvellous new model of the interior with monks and others going about their daily routine was on show.

A display of photos and literature about the daily life and responsibilities of monks was backed up with a DVD of young monks currently in France, with the images and narrative describing their ‘joyous’ lifestyle.

Books were available for sale about the Priory’s Book of Hours which provided the daily prayers to be said. Information was also available about the English Reformation (1541), which swept away Launceston’s Priory and changed the character of Christianity in England.

Throughout medieval times Launceston’s Priory had the reputation of hospitality towards travellers, the poor and the sick. The medieval event offered similar hospitality by providing medieval style pottage (which is vegetable soup thickened with oats) and rolls. They were provided in a modern hygienic way with authentic ingredients kindly donated by Cornish Sea Salt and Trewithen Dairy butter and subsidised by Lifton Farm shop.

Many people expressed an interest and a liking for the pottage and rolls, with about 40 servings being enjoyed for a donation.

Authenticity was furthered by Fr David Annear saying a simple grace in Latin, (which was and is the Catholic Church’s global language) with Pat Tremain translating the grace into Cornish and Robert Tremain to English ‘May the Lord bless this food’.

To further celebrate the work involved by the medieval monks to be able to provide this hospitality, there was a guided tour of the vicinity to point out the monks’ lifestyle and the self sufficiency of the Priory through its mill, the fish pond and the vegetable gardens, which was well attended and with much interest shown.

Cornwall Record Office Archivist David Thomas and Anna Tyacke, Cornwall Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme were available to help identify the documents, local photographs and ‘objects found in Cornish soil’ that people brought in.