Time: 11:30 am - 4:00 pm
It’s The Lord Stirling 1770s Festival
Colonial history lives at the Somerset County Park Commission’s annual 1770s Festival when Lord Stirling’s grand manor house and estate come to life in Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge, NJ. Colonial craftspeople ply their trades and a Revolutionary War military detachment camp on the former estate lawns and conduct maneuvers.
The event promotes historical and environmental education by familiarizing people with the rich local history of Basking Ridge, highlighting an unsung Revolutionary War hero, demonstrating the colonial heritage of New Jersey, and recreating a typical autumn afternoon in 1770.
Each year on the first Sunday in October, Lord Stirling’s estate at Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge comes back to life in the late 1700s. Colonial craftspeople ply their trades, a town crier delivers the daily news, and Revolutionary War military detachments camp and conduct maneuvers on the former estate lawn. The event promotes historical and environmental education highlighting the unsung Revolutionary War hero William Alexander, Lord Stirling, who lived on the site and served under General George Washington.
- Period Re-enactors
- Colonial Crafts & Trades
- Revolutionary War Militias
- Town Crier
- Children’s Activities & Crafts
- Cider Pressing
- Heritage Hikes
- Recovered Artifacts on Display
- Tours of 1762 Wine Cellar
- Farm Animals & Hay Rides
- Food & Drink
- Colonial Music
In 2001, the Lord Stirling 1770s Festival won the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association’s Excellence in Educational Programming Award. Nearly 50 people attired in replicas of 1770s clothing participate in the festival demonstrating their trades and crafts (no crafts are sold). These crafts people make articles such as buttons, rifles, brooms, furniture, lace, stained glass, red-ware pottery, and powder horns. Other trades and crafts include a blacksmith, tinsmith, wool spinning, decoy carving, and colonial herbs.
Children of all ages enjoy the hay rides, clay crafts using Stirling clay, stenciling, and toy making. Visitors may try on colonial costumes and have their photograph taken while restrained to the Somerset Gaoler’s wooden stock.
Suggested donation: $5
Official brochure – Click Here
Volunteers Needed (Only 1-2 hours of your time)
Meet people, hand out newsletters, gather names and email addresses.
1-2 hours of fun just saying hello and handing out information.
- Living History Day – Lord Stirling 1770’s Festival: Basking Ridge,(Booth) 11-5pm
Sponsored by the Somerset County Park Commission
