Battle lines set

Keith Mulhearn, who set up York's successful Roman festival three years ago, plans to hold the first festival in September 2006 to mark the 940th anniversary of the battle.

He hopes it will include a "mini-village" living history camp on Fulford Ings, with craftsmen and a military re-enactment on part of the battlefield.

Little is known about the battle, which took place on September 20, 1066, only five days before the showdown at Stamford Bridge and a few weeks before the decisive clash near Hastings.

Organisers started the campaign to raise £4,000 with an event which included duels between Saxons and Vikings at the Bay Horse pub in Fulford. Keith said: "I would envisage this being a major festival and going on year after year because it is actually commemorating something, a battle that happened.

"It will bring more tourists to the area by making this battle more important. It should happen for the city more than anything else. We should be making more of this. People should be more aware of why it happened and why it was important."

Keith, who also runs Roamin' Tours, is working with history re-enactment groups Holderness Vikings, in Hull, The Anglo Saxons, from Greater Manchester and Derby-based group Ancients Alive.

He said: "For a long time this historic event has been overlooked. Hopefully, after next year, nobody ever again will say, 'Battle of Fulford? Never heard of it.'

"It arguably ranks up there with the big battles and without doubt altered the course of English history."

Keith is chairman of the city's Roman festival and says it has been a massive success since it was founded three years ago.

He said: "This year has been a big success without a doubt. We just took it to a different level through our professionalism and the marketing side of things."

Last month re-enactors staged a mock battle at the site, as a testing ground before the full festival on September 23 and 24 next year.

Updated: 11:05 Saturday, November 12, 2005