We are Karen and Bret Wiles, we portray Wise Woman Bessie and Tom Two Feathers in our 17th Century re-enactment, entertaining talks and stunning displays.
Bessie is a Wise Woman, a cunning herbal healer, weaver of remedies, pisse prophet and blood letter. Fear not for plague, dropsy, falling sickness, melancholia, or biteth from venomous beasts, she cures all that ails ye, e’en plague, and leprosy. If ye hear o’ a witch in this parish, she has charms and amulets to ward off evil spirits.
By day Tom be chandler, candle and lighting maker. He can sell you tinder, for he has plenty, or whale oil for thy lamps. By night he be rat and mouse catcher, thy vermin gone by trap or cat, best in these parts. Most time he can be found in the Red Lion.
We started WW2 re-enactment about 10 years ago, specialising in what women and children did during the war and focusing on what life was actually like for normal people then. We loved our research and attended many WW2 events throughout the UK, pictures of our re-enactments can be found on our sister website www.doingtheirbit.co.uk. As a spin-off we designed talks about WW2 Home Front and take our popular talks to adult groups, children’s groups (ie Brownies and Guides) and to schools.
Wanting a new challenge and possibly a new era, we went to Worcester at War in August 2025, a Sealed Knot battle, and were overwhelmed by the friendly and welcoming re-enactors. Some of our WW2 friends also re-enact 17th Century and encouraged us to join the Earl Rivers regiment as they often do events locally.
We settled on characters and displays which were of interest to us. Bret focuses on candles, lighting and fire making, with a side line of rat catching and rodent control. Karen has become a Wise Woman, talking about herbal medicine and practices in the 17th Century.
Research started in earnest and Bret, a retired antiques dealer, saw the opportunity to collect original memorabilia and items from the time. We have also attended TORM and the Artisan’s Market, collecting wonderfully made replicas of originals.
We are finding the 17th Century fascinating and are keenly booking up other events in the UK to display our collection.