Welsh victory echoed in historic reenactment at Chirk Castle

Welsh forces won a re‑enactment of the 1154 Battle of Crogen at Chirk Castle, echoing a victory that took place 861 years ago. The narrator described the scene from a pub opposite the ruined Oswestry Castle in the Marches of Shropshire. In 1165 King Henry II gathered Marcher Lords’ troops to press an alliance of Welsh princes for control of the region. The following Sunday the same route was walked to Chirk Castle, known as Castell Y Waun a’r Ardd, to watch the reenactment. The modern castle was not present in Henry’s time; the original clash occurred in the Ceiriog Valley below. Henry ordered woodsmen to clear the valley’s trees to strip the Welsh of cover, but he left a single oak, Quercus petraea, where Prince Owain Gwynedd mustered his men. That tree grew into the Pontfadog oak, celebrated as the oldest British oak and the National Tree of Wales until a storm felled it in 2013, an estimated 1,600 years old. A fragment of the oak was given to the writer by long‑time Guardian environment editor John Vidal. The reenactment featured clashing swords, coloured shields of Marcher lords and Welsh princes, fine horses and soaring arrows, all narrated to explain each side’s moves. Historians disagree on the scale of the original fight, but all agree the Welsh emerged victorious and the Marches remained a contested borderland. Over the castle garden wall, two clouded yellow butterflies, Colias croceus, migrated from North Africa or southern Europe and fluttered over the lawns, a subtle sign of resistance amid declining insect numbers. A small copper butterfly, Lycaena phlaeas, also displayed its bright wings.

Context

The Marches have long been a border zone between England and Wales, producing frequent clashes such as the 1154 battle. Re‑enactments help modern audiences visualise this contested history. The noted decline of butterflies like the clouded yellow reflects wider concerns for insect health across Britain.