The Media Archive for Central England is the public screen archive for the East and West Midlands. An independent charity and company based at the University of Lincoln, MACE acquires, catalogues, preserves and makes widely available moving image materials that inform our understanding of the diverse cultures and histories of communities between the Lincolnshire coast and the Welsh border.
This film is part of Free
Burford Dragon
The ancient region of Merca lives on in a collection of old clothes horses, curtains and papier mache. Plus twenty-four willing young volunteers.
From the collection of:
Overview
The dragon is said to have been the symbol of the ancient Mercian King Uther Pendragon. In AD 752, when the forces of Mercia were slaughtered by the Saxons at the battle of Burford, the dragon lay dying. That legend has been celebrated in the Oxfordshire town on mid summer eve for hundreds of years. Here we see the 1980 version: local children inside a homemade dragon. A long way from King Arthur perhaps but it's good to see something so old survives into the modern era.
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