Haestingas

End of April saw Haestingas taking part in Wychurst at War, an immersive event for Regia. It was super fun to do battle with the Norman's who'd taken charge of our longhall. But also plenty of time to enjoy our beautiful space and eachothers company :)
Thanks to and

You think of the Church in Sussex, and you immediately think of Chichester. The Mother church. The seat of the Diocese. Painted proudly outside every church in Sussex. But it was not so in the Early Medieval.

Selsey instead was the mother church, founded by Bishop (later Saint) Wilfrid in the 7th Century. This was the spiritual heart of Sussex. At this point, Selsey was an island, separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. It ended up housing a cathedral and a monastery.

So what Happened? The Norman conquest. In 1075 the Seat was moved to Chichester. The remains of St Wilfrid's diocese become the parish church and later much of the structure was moved to the new center of Selsey and rebuilt as St Peter's Church.

Our monk leaves Church Norton, the remains of the 13th Century church, to check the shore for news.

Another great Stingers training session! Perfecting the shield wall and commands.

Mike and new member Jess made the trek to Gateshead this weekend past to take part in Regia's North Eastern training weekend. Chaotic fun in 'the doughnut' while being shot at by crossbows and javelins! Mike took the troops through Boarsnout forming later in the day, training them how to slam a unit of warriors into and through an enemy shield wall.

The Stingers took the long road to the Gower Peninsular in Wales to head to Oystermouth Castle. A legendary Regia national training event situated in the shattered ruins of a medieval castle. From its steep banks and high arched halls of 'The Pit', it marks as some of the toughest and most intense fighting the society gets to take part in.

Sage and Gayle locked horns with axemen while Mike took the Carls and the Fyrd for some drill and endurance training in the halls.

The place echoed with the clatter of steel on steel with splintering timber!
Fighting in a real castle really gave everyone an appreciation of what warfare would’ve been like in these buildings and why they were designed as they were. At one point 3 soldiers were easily holding 20 of them at bay on the stairs.

Stingers have been getting ready for festival on the 21st February! Whose coming? We can't wait to see all our pals from across 😊

A fantastic meet up thus Saturday in Robertsbridge. Much crafting and shield clattering was undertaken.
Kits getting made for upcoming events, a new group project underway; a Haestingas embroidery all to the background melody of our resident bard 😆

A busy weekend for the Stingers! Members were at Islip training weekend on the Saturday and we had an amazing time! Lots of new stamps gained, from archery, double handed spear and javelin, as well as music and crafting at the village hall. Sunday was a group kit and craft afternoon and around 18 of us descended upon our group leaders house! There was plenty of pewter casting for newer members looking to get little details for kit finalised. Shield making was on the agenda, and inside there were tunics being made, braiding and tapestry planning! A great weekend!

Happy New Year from the Haestingas!

2025 was a fantastic year for us! It started with a feast in our long hall to celebrate our 25th Birthday. We attended new events and made new partnerships, such as our event at Hastings Museum. We saw one of our members coronated in Kingston, then had the pleasure of rowing him down the Thames! Another of our members lead the left wing of the English Army at the Battle of Hastings, whilst 2 more performed in the Great Court of the British Museum!

Did you make it to see us in 2025? If so what was your favorite event. If not, come and find us in 2026!