Image: Members of the Warwicks 1914-18 group demonstrating rifle drill at Avoncroft.

Avoncroft Museum is home to over 30 historic buildings and structures, dating from the 13th century to the mid-20th century.  Sited at Bromsgrove, Warwickshire, it opened in 1967, saving buildings in the Midlands from demolition or neglect, by removing and rebuilding them. Over a 19-acre site, you will find a working windmill, World War Two pre-fab houses, a perry mill, a toll house, a 16th century threshing barn, an earth closet, a cruck-frame barn, and a counting house – as well as Worcester Cathedral’s 14th-century Guesten Hall. There are over 14,000 objects that reflect the lives of the people who constructed, worked. or lived within these buildings and structures. They also have a collection of British telephone kiosks from over the decades - a surprisingly popular attraction.

Each year, over two days, they host a Living History Festival covering the Bronze Age to the Cold War. Some 300 re-enactors set up over 40 Camps across the site. Here, you can find Ancient Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings (The Wolves of Midguard), various Medieval types (The Swords of Mercia), American Civil War soldiers, 18th-century French colonial regiments, and even a couple dressed as Polish Sarmatian aristocrats.

These included members of the Great War Society and the Warwicks 1914 – 1918. The Warwicks Living History Group was formed to perpetuate the memory of the Great War soldier, portraying the Royal Warwickshire Regiment soldier, demonstrating training drills, tactics, and equipment.