A walk through the English Civil War battlefield at Edgehill

The Battle of Edgehill (23rd October 1642) was the first battle in the English Civil War, when Charles I went to war against the English Parliament.  They disagreed on matters of religion and on their rights to rule the country.  Charles raised his Standard on 22nd August in Nottingham and the first major encounter between the two sides was at Edgehill in the midlands.

The battle lasted around 4 hours and each side had about 15,000 fighting men.  1,500 men were killed and both sides claimed victory in this indecisive battle, the first of many encounters over the next 4 years.

Although there is not much evidence of the battle on the ground today we were able to walk over the Royalist positions on the southern part of the battleground.

Dragoons and musketeers from both sides hid in the hedges on the flanks of the battlefield

The trees on the slope at Edgehill were planted 100 years after the battle

Royalist Pikemen, Musketeers, Cavalry and canon ... 

had to make their way down this slope to the battle line 

 Looking from the battlefield towards Avon Dassett

Ridge and furrow, as seen here, covered the battlefield

Effigy of Captain Henry Kingsmill in St Peters, Radway, a Royalist officer killed during the battle

 

 Princes Charles and James (our future kings) stayed here in Arlescote 

on the night before the battle

The memorial to the Battle of Edgehill 

on the B4086, south of Kineton, Warwickshire

A good walk on a cool sunny day.

Best
Anne
Walk The Landscape

A perfect walk for a Monday morning

The Edgehill Battlefield from the Castle Inn, the spot where the Royal Standard was displayed before the battle. A perfect walk for a Monday morning in August!

Walk the Landscape

Best

Doubts over the location of the Battle of Stow

The Battle of Stow is one of our most popular walks, but the exact site of the battle has been questioned by experts from as far back as 2002.

The monument, on the ridge near Donnington about two miles north of Stow, was placed in it's current position in line with local hearsay and following discovery of lead shot by a local landowner. The farmer has since died and the shot is lost so its now impossible to verify its authenticity.

Historians consider the site to be too far off the Royalist route from Evesham to Oxford and too far from the town of Stow. It's in a poor defensive position as Royalist foot soldiers would have been overtaken by Parliamentary cavalry in any retreat.

The Stow Civic Society, English Heritage and the Battlefields Trust are applying for a grant of £50,000 to survey the area with metal detectors and are calling for volunteers to help with the various activities associated with the project.

Best regards