Landlady Anni Jacobs saw a business opportunity when the Sealed Knot announced it was heading for town.

The Cavaliers and Roundheads were to be locked in battle at South Park, Oxford, at the foot of Headington Hill.

It was a fair bet that the thirsty warriors would want to enjoy a pint or two during three days of hostilities.

So Mrs Jacobs, who ran the Plasterers Arms, opposite the park, at the entrance to Marston Road, decided it could do her business no harm for her pub to join in the festivities.

The Oxford Mail reported: "She rustled up a menu fit to see any soldier through a siege battleburgers, roundhead rolls and pikemen's lunches, not to mention cavalier crumpet. She roped in extra bar staff, who agreed to join in the fun and dress up as serving wenches for the impending onslaught at the bar."

The serving wenches Kim Kenny, Joan Dunkley and Ann Kenny agreed to pose in their regalia for Oxford Mail photographer Peter Floyd, before being rushed off their feet by thirsty soldiers.

Several hundred members of the Sealed Knot arrived from all over the country to stage the 1646 Siege of Oxford in April 1984. They paraded through the city centre in their 17th century costumes, before starting the first of three battles on successive days.

Following the true path of history, the victors were the Roundheads, who sent the Royalists packing to Thame and occupied Oxford on June 27, 1646.

The days of the Royalists were numbered as were those, in due course, of the Plasterers Arms.

The pub is now a distant memory. Not a brick is left. It has been demolished and is being replaced by housing.

Where are the wenches' now? And can anyone remember the South Park siege?