BATTLE hungry Vikings hordes descended on Little Downham at the weekend to lock swords with Norman invaders in the final battle for Britain. This time however, there wasn t a monk or a castle in sight as dozens of people took part in a re-enactment of the

BATTLE hungry Vikings hordes descended on Little Downham at the weekend to lock swords with Norman invaders in the final battle for Britain.

This time however, there wasn't a monk or a castle in sight as dozens of people took part in a re-enactment of the last stand of the native Englishman against the bloodthirsty Norman invasion of 1071.

Eager revellers from across the region gathered at Black Bank in the village to take part in a weekend long series of events all themed around life in the medieval times, with everything from traditional crafts to Saxon villages on show.

The real show piece of the event though, was the hearty re-enactment of Hereward The Wake's last stand against the all-conquering Norman King William, which saw dozens of people don exact replicas of Saxon armour, weighing up to about 50 pounds.

Event organiser Mr Owen said, "The idea for the event started out as a birthday get together for my daughter and one thing led to another and we ended up organising a battle.

"A lot of her friends wanted to come down and help out with the event which was great and I think it was something that you don't often see around the area so there was a lot of interest.