We often have people asking us what associations our beautiful woodland walkers have with Medieval history and reenactment, and you might be quite surprised at the reply. They represent a historical (fictional) figure known as the Green Man. If you have never encountered them before, our ‘Green Men’ like to walk gracefully around Abbeystowe during the festival, delighting visitors and posing for photographs, like this:
The figure of the Green Man appears to have it’s roots in carvings from the Messapotamic and Roman eras, but has also been seen in temples in India, Borneo and Nepal. He was used to bridge the gap between the old forms of worship and the new introduction of Christianity in the early Medieval period, although his appearances during this time were few.
From the late 11th century onwards his face became a carved decorative feature used on Churches and buildings of great importance. The Green Man is quite often linked the to the use of other decorative ornamentation used in the Gothic and Romanesque styles during the High Middle Ages, such as gargoyles, mythical beasts, demons, mermaids and green ‘women’. ‘Jack the Green Man’ was incorporated into village fetes and festivals which is why our woodland walkers fit right in at the Abbey Medieval Festival (why or how he was named Jack is still a bit of a mystery!)