The flash of a blade and a sense of danger is possibly even more popular now than it’s ever been. The dancing foil of Flynn has been replaced by frolics in fantasy worlds. Then there are the gritty historical pieces with their feet firmly in the mud of combat. That swashbuckling face-off is often an exciting dramatic draw. And it’s something that Swashbuckling Cornwall excels at.
Henry Austwick started Swashbuckling Cornwall in 2014. He’d been studying stage combat since 2008.
“The aim was to bring stage combat courses to Cornwall and the South West,” he tells D&CFilm. Now that has grown to not only include stage or screen combat, but horse riding for actors, gun work, coordination, props, and costumes.
That means Swashbuckling Cornwall can offer workshops and opportunities to people without them having to go elsewhere.
Huge skills
“At the time, there wasn’t much happening in Cornwall in this sector,” says Henry. “Often people come into the county for projects. But we know that there’s a huge skills base in the South West just waiting to train and waiting for opportunities.”
There’s something of a romantic, piratical smuggler sense in the air of Cornwall so it also builds on the heritage of the county.
With a degree in history and a masters in television production Henry has always had an interest in culture and heritage.
Hands on
“The two really combine well,” he says. They don’t only do period pieces, but that act of making heritage and culture accessible to people in a different way is important to them. To reflect that, Swashbuckling Cornwall hold exhibitions and events for hands-on experience of what the weight and shape of combat can be. People can try on a helmet or wave a sword around in a safe, controlled way.
“If you can make it practical in some respects, it helps people engage more,” says Henry. “That’s huge across the heritage and cultural sector, people actually appreciating what our ancestors used or may have used.” Swashbuckling Cornwall work in the area of performance, so it doesn’t have the need to be 100% accurate. For example, they use scaled-down kit to engage children.


“Historically, they are tools,” says Henry. “They can be beautiful things, but they are effective tools to be used by somebody day in, day out. In theatre and film we still treat weapons often as tools or props. But they have to adapt to our way of life. We’re no longer living in a martial society where we’re training every day for hours and hours and hours. That’s why we swap in the wood, or the plastic or the aluminium, to help everybody in that respect.”
To get a glimpse of some behind-the-scene armoury trickery, Henry says to take a look at Tod Cutler on YouTube.
Swashbuckling Cornwall often supports film crews who are based elsewhere and come to Cornwall for specific locations. Although that is slowly changing.
“The musket course we run was originally requested by the Poldark team when they needed extras who could fire muskets,” he says.
As a teacher, whether it be combat or performance, it’s important to keep practising and learning, says Henry.
Teaching and learning
“You learn a lot when you are teaching, because it’s how you interpret things for other people, how they interpret what you’re saying,” he says.
That has all the more importance because of the nature of what they are learning – weapons and combat can be dangerous.


“You can mitigate risks with training, but there’s always going to be that element of risk, even with the polyurethane swords we use. Everyone has to be on the same page. If people are too tired, or they’re getting too excited, that’s where issues begin. Slowly building up confidence with training is important. The more you train, the more you’ll get used to that environment.”
Alongside that technique, there’s the importance of kit. Henry warns about buying cheap online. “It can be wonderful if it’s a costume piece so it’s seen on a belt, but if it’s to be a practical weapon for practical use, maybe not so good.”
Creative community
When we spoke to Henry there was a pile of costumes in the office that were in the process of being made, using the skills of local creatives, which builds that sense of community. And he mentions Keith Wallace of Master At Arms, who has relocated to Cornwall.
“He does a lot of teaching, stage combat and screen combat as well. It’s more people coming into the industry, which is great,” says Henry.
That engagement, encouragement and connection is backed up by a networking event that Herny organsied, which was inspired by his involvement with the Cornwall Film Festival and Mor Media.

“Networking is really important to do when you don’t need anything. You should go out and network because you can and want to talk to people. People love to talk about themselves. We actually want to know what people are doing. And we do like connecting with people. The more we can engage with each other, the better, whether that’s networking, collaboration, or whatever you want to call it.”
So it turns out, combat can help but bring people together, and when it’s for creative reasons, all the better.
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