The Barony of Rowany

This is the website of the Barony of Rowany (more info below). The site is a central resource for the Barony, drawing together the various tools used to communicate and store information, such as Facebook groups and mailing lists. This site helps tie those resources together so information is hopefully available in your favourite format (and you don’t miss out, or feel forced to use something you’d rather not).

The Barony of Rowany is the name of the Sydney section of an international, non-profit, historical education society. We study and play with pre-17th Century history from around the world. Rowany covers the Sydney Metropolitan area as well as surrounding sections of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of a LARGE organisation called the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). Rowany sits within the Australia and New Zealand region known as the Kingdom of Lochac. Lochac is ruled over by Kings and Queens. They reign for six months at a time and are largely involved with the pageantry of the SCA including giving out awards.

The SCA, started over 45 years ago in San Francisco, CA, USA. We strive, through a variety of endeavours, to recreate the best parts of history (recreating history from anywhere before 1600 AD). A brief overview of the activities of the SCA can be found here.

The following quote is part of the Cunnan Wiki page describing the SCA (Cunnan is a fantastic resource if you are looking for further information!):

The Society for Creative Anachronism is a hobby organisation. It could be considered a historical reenactment or living history organisation, but, unlike most such organisations, the SCA does not concentrate on a narrowly-defined time period, let alone a specific war or other event. The SCA also does not have a minimum standard of authenticity! The activities of the SCA have more to do with re-creation (and recreation) than with re-enactment. Some SCA participants describe the SCA as a large group of people with interlocking hobbies. However, this de-emphasis on authenticity in favour of a broader and more inclusive experience sometimes draws criticism from more stringent reenactors, and indeed from some SCA members as well.

The Baronies:  Are larger groups within a Kingdom, ruled over by Barons and/or Baronesses. The Barony of Rowany is the oldest of the Baronies of Lochac, celebrating its 40th anniversary in mid 2022. Our Barony also has sub groups, Stowe-on-the-Wowld in Western Sydney; Radburne in Dubbo; and the College of St Ursula at the University of Sydney. However, Rowany is only one part of the Kingdom of Lochac. Further information about our neighbours, the kingdom and the SCA can be found by clicking on the appropriate link… back there.

Game On:  People taking part in the SCA are essentially playing a game. With the aim is to recreate history, often an individual will pick a particular date range they like for any number of reasons. They will then try to match that period with their look, creating fantastically striking costumes to match (we tend to look great). Going further, it is common to also focus on a particular geographical area. An example could be that I may choose to create my clothing based on Dutch examples from the period 1510 to 1570 because the fashion of that specific time and place really tickles my fancy – I might really like the hats! (this is a made up example and I have no idea what the hats are like).

However, it isn’t just about the clothes. You could say that’s only “covering the surface”. Depending on just how much time and effort you wish to invest, you can find people interested in and help with most time periods. If you come along to Festival, you’ll find people who recreate a full “period” campsite, covering food preparation, storage and cooking, through to “period” furniture, pavilions and even bedding. It can get very in depth if you wish. We cover a lot of different areas, researching and generally making things as we progress. We make delicious food (with regular feasts), brew tasty beverages, create spectacular costumes, research and recreate all manner of things, hit each other with sticks and most of all, have a lot of fun.

A great way to find out more is to have a chat with a couple of people to get their point of view. At the core, the SCA is a social game, so speaking with the people who play is the very best way to get a good idea what we are about. Anyone, no matter what age or level of interest, is welcome to come along to events and gatherings to find out what we are about. We are a bunch of brilliant people who defy labels.

More information about the Barony, our neighbours, the Kingdom and the SCA in general can be found by: