DetectingWales.com

Thought this may be of interest!

Perhaps no weapon was more feared by individuals on the field of battle than the medieval longbow. This weapon was generally between four to six feet in length and could hurl arrows with uncanny accuracy and speed. The medieval longbow enabled armies to impart a great deal of damage on enemy warriors from afar. A well- trained line of medieval longbow wielders could deal a devastating blow without ever having stand face-to-face with their opponents.

This history of the medieval longbow is one of evolution. The weapon was first recorded in use on the British Isles by the Welsh in 633. This recording of the medieval longbow in use occurred when Offrid, the son of the king of Northumbria, was slain by an arrow from a medieval longbow. Although the Welsh have the first recorded use in Offrid’s slaying, the weapon is traditionally credited to the English.

The roots of the medieval longbow are thought to go back even farther than 633. Surviving examples from the Neolithic period were found in Somerset and date back to the period before Christ.

The medieval longbow was a favorite of armies for its speed and accuracy. The weapon when placed in skilled hands could be quite deadly, allowing a single man to wreak havoc on many. The medieval longbow, in fact, has been likened to a modern machine gun for its ability to kill en masse when used by a skilled archer.

While medieval longbows from different periods and locations vary slightly in their main materials, the standard examples are pretty uniform. To create a medieval longbow, yew wood was seasoned for one to two years and then worked into shape. The entire process to create a proper medieval longbow could take years. The bow stave was shaped into a “D” from a half cross section of a tree or branch. For the inner side of the medieval longbow rounded heartwood and sapwood with a flat back was used. The medieval longbow’s strings generally were made from hemp, flax or even silk and were attached to the wood with “nocks,” which fit onto the end of the bow.

The medieval longbow though effective was not the most practical of weapons. The draw weights of a medieval longbow could and often did exceed 143 pounds, inasmuch, the wielder had to be adept to be effective. Although the medieval longbow took a long time to construct and perhaps even longer to train an archer to any precision, their ability to inflict damage made them an important part of medieval warfare. To effective use a line of medieval longbow archers, military tactics generally called for the protection of these well-trained warriors. A typical formation would put the longbowmen on the side with light infantry in the center, heavy infantry in the center middle, cavalry on the flanks or center and traditional archers in the center back. This would allow an alternation of flights of arrows with charges, putting the skill of the medieval longbow archers to best use.

When combined with other volleys, or even on their own, the medieval longbow on the field of battle could create a huge psychological impact on an opposing army. Just imagine the sky overhead clouding with the flight of hundreds of deadly fast arrows!

NICE ONE ,,, ANOTHER NICE BIT OF INFO THERE BUD ,,,,, DID   YA  KNOW  THAT  IF  AN  ARCHER WAS CAPTURED   HIS INDEX   AND  MIDDLE FINGER  WAS CHOPPED OFF ,,,,  THATS  WHERE   THE   V SIGN  ORIGINATED  AS  THE  ARCHERS  USED TO ALL GIVE THE  V SIGN  TO THE ENEMY   ,,,,, SHOWING THEM  THEIR   FINGERS  WERE INTACT   AND READY TO USE THE BOW    ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

That is supposed to be an urban legend Digga, have a look at this link and see what you think?
http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/the-v-sign/biography/the-anti-french-gesture (http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/the-v-sign/biography/the-anti-french-gesture)

i know of a field where welsh longbow archers trained as all you find there are iron arrowheads sadly the farmer wont let detectorists on there but i know 2 brothers who field walked it when it was last ploughed and they picked up loads of these arrowheads.  mike

That's interesting Mike, was it near a church? The other point I forgot to mention was that they would always practice with the sun behind them and the area from where they shot is supposed to be good for finds

yes right next to a old church

Nice bit of info there hedgehog
and the old saying is to keep it
under your hat that comes from
a spare string for the bow and if
you pick a quarrel with someone
its a crossbow quarrel and the saying
a bolt out of the blue is a cross bow bolt

Did you know that in 1541 Henry V111 passed a law that all males over a certain age must practice archery every Sunday after Church.

This law has never been recinded.

Thats why you find yew trees in church  yardsbow making material for the local militia the following will give you some Idea of the range and penetration power of the longbow :o on christmas day in the year 1157 the marcher lord william de braose invited  seisyll ap dyfnwar and agroup of other welsh chieftains to a great banquet in abergavenny castle during which they were all slaughtered  it was,nt log after the castle came under attack from the welsh it is said that some of the longmen managed to penetrate the drawbridge with their arrows it was built from oak a couple of inches thick :o a norman knight appeared on horseback only to be pinned to his steed by an arrow through each leg :o I,d rather be behind a longbow than in front of one ;D