Drag Me to Winchester
Purkiss, a New Forest charcoal burner, charged with carrying the abandoned body of King William Rufus to Winchester, must make a two-day journey through a perilous landscape of ancient ghosts and Norman occupation — pursued all the way by the Devil himself.
The Film
In 1100, King William II is killed while hunting in the New Forest. His body is abandoned where it falls.
Drag Me to Winchester follows Purkiss, the charcoal burner who discovers the dead king, as he attempts to carry the body through the forest to Winchester.
The World
The journey passes through a medieval England shaped by Norman rule, older histories and competing beliefs. The landscape is inhabited not only by the living, but by the ghosts of those who came before them.
Earthburn
The opening act of the feature has been adapted as Earthburn, a standalone HWAET short film centred on Purkiss's three-day charcoal burn in the New Forest.