Special Events - Henricus

Today, Winter is an inconvenience and disruption to life that makes us wish for springtime. Snowstorms come with a warning, wet clothes from a day of sledding are taken care of in the dryer, and the cold can be chased away with an easy cup of hot chocolate and bumping up the thermostat. For communities in early 17th-century Virginia, life in winter was quite different. Cold days were filled with farm chores, trades, and manual labor required to keep warm. Learn and experience the struggles of a harsh winter in the 1600s during Henricus' seasonal interpretation.

Wednesday, February 5 - Saturday, March 30

The Soldier's Fort

Did soldiers conduct campaigns against warring Powhatan tribes during the winter? What were the most common winter labor activities when not engaged in combat? Sit by the fire of the sergeant's cabin and discover what military service looked like during the winter season.

The Church

English colonists would go to church twice a day and three times on Sundays. What would it have been like to recite prayers in an unheated church, especially the mandated 12-page long “morning and evening” prayer for the guards? Learn how they would have dressed and prepared for long hours in a cold and drafty building.

Carpenter Shop

In early Virginia, manual labor did not stop due to cold weather, and much of the trade work took place outdoors. Did they have special clothing or gloves to work in? Did firewood get affected by cold weather? Could the season’s conditions alter the blacksmith’s iron or steel products? Discover how chilly conditions impacted the tradesmen’s work and the measures they took to stay warm.

Proctor's Farm

Explore the farm and learn about the importance of animal care during the colder months. Understand what was needed to keep animals safe, examine the differences in winter conditions between Virginia and England, and see how they began preparations for the spring planting season.

Rocke Hall

Pocahontas spent the winter of 1613-1614 among the English. Visitors can learn about the differing approaches between the Powhatan and the English in navigating cold weather. Visitors will also have an opportunity to wear historic clothing items, such as Powhatan furs and English woolens, and experience lying on a straw-filled mattress with woolen blankets.

Mt. Malady

Winter brings various colds and illnesses, especially for colonists completing the months-long journey from England to Virginia. Walk through the hospital and examine surgical tools, hospital beds, and herbs used to treat ailments.

Come down and spend the spookiest time of the year at Henricus Historical Park, all of our Halloween events can be found below:

Things That Go Bump in the Night

This weekend, legends and tales from throughout the centuries come to life before your eyes! Take a guided tour through Henricus in the dark as interpreters dramatically demonstrate and perform old English folklore stories of witches, ghosts, goblins, shucks, and all “things that go bump in the night.” Come see what colonial Virginians thought were spooky, scary, or mysterious in our early history. Check out the Henricus Calendar for more information!

Tricks, Treats, and Tales

Join us for a spooky day of family-friendly Halloween fun! Interact with Colonial interpreters and staff as you trick-or-treat in our recreated Indian village and English settlement, listen to a spook-tacular read-aloud story, and decorate your own mini-pumpkin. The festivities will wrap-up with a children’s costume parade around our English fort. Check out the Henricus Calendar for more information!

This event will demonstrate the old and new traditions of how English people mixed giving thanks for a successful harvest with what bounty Virginia offered the people arriving here. Looking at how the English were influenced by other cultures and places – Asia, Africa, and the Americas – in their foods and feasts.

Staff will especially examine how the interactions with the Powhatan Indians wove a new diet into their experiences in the New World. Pottages, roasts, loaves of bread, desserts, and drinks common to feasting in early Virginia and what forms of thanks were given on those occasions will be demonstrated. If you enjoy the smell of wood fires, iron-pot cooking over hot coals, and clay oven bread baking, come to our annual autumn event! Check out the Henricus Calendar for more information!

The 17th through 20th centuries in England, the American colonies, and the United States transformed Christmas into what we know today. Explore what Christmas looked like, smelled like, and sounded like to Virginians throughout these centuries. Your journey through time will end with a greeting from Father Christmas!

Later in the evening, wander under the moonlight through one of the oldest English settlements in North America. Candles will flicker from every window, fireplaces will crackle in timber-framed houses, and bonfires will help chase away the winter chill. Enjoy a forest of festive greenery as Henricus puts on our finest for an Old World Yuletide! Check out the Henricus Calendar for more information!

Tis’ the Season to step back in time! Follow the merry Lord of Misrule to England in the 1590s and enjoy the sights, sounds, and flavors of Christmas as we knew it then: a multi-course feast including roasted meats, pies, ale, cider and more, served at table in our spacious, candle-lit Guest House with a blazing Yule log fire. Dine to the sounds of period musicians, with wassailing a-plenty, and many a toast to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I. Begin your holidays with one of the oldest English Christmas traditions in one of the oldest English settlements in North America: Henricus! Check out the Henricus Calendar for more information!