The Cloth of Gold Field Archery Club was formed in 1976 when a number of members of a Target club based in East London decided to concentrate on Field Archery.  They needed to find a suitable name for their newly-formed club, and the area of woodland they found to serve as their club ground gave them the inspiration.

One of the founder members, Gordon Mellor, had a keen interest in history and knew that the land was once part of the great Enfield Chase, a vast area of forest used in the distant past as a Royal hunting ground. It was also a popular hideout for outlaws and the ghost of Dick Turpin is said to haunt part of The Chase. At just half a days ride from the City of London it was Henry VIII’s favourite haunt too.  He loved the area so much that he enclosed several acres within walls and stocked it with deer to provide excellent hunting for himself and his friends. 

Given the area’s links with Henry, Gordon suggested the club be called The Cloth of Gold.  The name refers to a luxurious fabric popular with royalty which was used for clothing or as a ceremonial cloth to form a canopy above a throne.  It was made by weaving strands of real gold amongst more traditional threads such as silk. 

Henry VIII is particularly associated with Cloth of Gold because of an Anglo-French summit held in 1520 when the French and English courts, each numbering some 5000 members, set up lavish camps in the fields outside Calais while Henry and the French King considered the possibility of forming an alliance.

The young kings were long-standing personal and political rivals and each was determined to out-do the other in displaying their wealth and importance.  Their tented camps included vast pavilions designed to serve as halls and chapels, swathed in Cloth of Gold and hung with rich tapestries.  As a result, the summit became known as The Field of the Cloth of Gold.

During the three-week long meeting there were archery displays, jousting tournaments, dancing and banquets.  Henry, representing what was then the lesser power of England, was desperate to impress the French superpower and spent the equivalent of over £5 million on food, beer and wine.  The gathering feasted on 340 cows, 800 calves, 2000 sheep, 1300 chickens, 9000 plaice, 7000 whiting, 5500 sole, 2000 mackerel, 700 conger eels and a dolphin, amongst other delicacies! New flavours of the day included roast turkey (made a change from peacock!) asparagus and prunes. 

Visitors to the  Cloth of Gold open shoots these days will find that catering has changed very little, with sumptuous urns of tea,  burgers fit for a King and the most regal bacon butties this side of Windsor Castle!

There’s also a country pub nearby with a royal name – The King and Tinker.  The story goes that the King was hunting in the area in 1604 when he became separated from his courtiers and sought refuge in an alehouse.  There, he drank – unrecognised - alongside a tinker until his party found him.  The pub was subsequently re-named to commemorate the event.  Those good with their dates will realise that this King was James I, not Henry VIII.

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