ShireReaves.com - A little about us

As a living history guild, we provide the site safety for Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire.

What is a living history guild? We are a group of people that for one weekend a year, dress in the attire of, and portray a group of mercenaries from the Elizabethan period. (1558 – 1603)

We maintain an encampment that is part of the “flavor” or “atmosphere” of Shrewsbury that reflects a mercenary band from the late renaissance period. All of our members build a personae based on soldiers and mercenaries of the period. We then research the clothing, camping, food, personal gear, military tactics and the law enforcement practices of the period. We then try to bring that knowledge to life for the run of the Faire.

The Shire Reaves guild yard is usually quite active with Reaves coming and going to patrol of the Shire Proper, meals being prepared to feed the troops, usually some sort of crafting or gear repair being done, and Reaves finding a place to relax for a while and laugh and tell stories among their comrades.

We also maintain a booth at the guild yard, aptly named “Ye Olde Loot and Plunder Shoppe”. This is an outlet for the crafters and artisans among us to sell their wares.

We are on duty 24 hours a day starting Wednesday evening until the following Monday evening during the week of Faire. Our main duties consist of (but are not limited to) assisting with vendor and participant parking, assisting vendors and participants find their areas within the site, back gate check in for all vendors and participants, fire watch, enforcing site rules and general site safety and security. And this is all BEFORE Faire starts on Saturday morning.

During the run of Faire we keep a presence within the Shire Proper, continue to staff the back gate, respond to any emergencies that may arise, and again maintain general site safety and security.

Sound like a lot of work? It is, but it is very satisfying, and somewhere along the way we have a great deal of fun. We get to meet a lot of wonderful people and look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

If this sounds like something you are interested in, or would like to learn more about, please check out the Join Us page to learn more of what it takes to be a Shire Reave.