CORSHAM will be echoing with the sound of battle cries and roaring gunfire as a civil war re-enactment takes the town back in time.

The Sealed Knot Living History Group will set up camp near the Lady Margaret Hungerford Almshouses on Saturday, recreating life in a 17th century baggage train following soldiers during the English Civil War.

Replica tents, weapons and clothing will be used for the demonstration, with Sealed Knot members reliving life behind the lines as wheelwrights, washerwomen and armourers.

Visitors will be given the chance to talk to the camp inhabitants during the performance, scheduled for 11am to 4pm.

It will be the first time that the group has visited the town and it has chosen the historical almshouses and Corsham Court as its location.

The Almshouses are particularly fitting, since Lady Hungerford's husband fought during the Civil War on the side of King Charles.

Richard Tonge, clerk to the almshouse trustees, said: "It's going to be a great event, we are all looking forward to it very much."

At the time of the civil war, many of the camp followers would simply be women following their men and having nowhere else to go.

As soldiers were not given any allowance for their dependants in the 17th century, their wives and daughters would have earned their food by laundering, cooking, sewing or practising elementary medical care on the sick and wounded.

Over the years the society has performed re-enactments around the country, including at Windsor Castle for the Silver Jubilee celebrations in 1977. The charity aims to perform public re-enactments of battles, sieges and other events with a view to educating the public on Britain's heritage.