Britain's Battlefields
Above: Could this be the disputed site of the First Battle of Newbury
Above:
VISIT WASH COMMON, just south of Newbury, and there are still some reminders of the momentous events that took part in this quiet corner of Berkshire over 350 years ago. Many of the modern street names reflect Wash Common’s main claim to fame as the site of the First Battle of Newbury on September 21, 1643. Around 25,000 soldiers faced each other across the autumn Berkshire countryside. Some argue that the battle was a pivotal moment in the Civil War for the Parliamentarians. Had King Charles won the day, the Roundheads would have been prevented from reaching London on their way back from Gloucester and the whole outcome of the war might have been changed.
There is also a memorial to Lord Falkland, one of Charles I’s generals, who died near the battlefield. It was erected in the late 1800s and stands today, near The Gun Inn, as a reminder of one of the bloodiest battles in English history, ending in the death of 1,500 men.
According to the Battlefield Trust, however, Newbury is one of the major battles of the war where there is real uncertainty about the detailed placing of the action. It admits all of the existing studies remain in doubt until there is a major new study of the battlefield.
That study has just been published by Hampshire historian Jon Day. His book, Gloucester & Newbury 1643 : The Turning Point of the English Civil War, reveals new evidence which questions the location of the battle and which could lead to a major rethink on Newbury’s planning policy because sadly the area has not been preserved.
That rethink cannot come too soon for many Civil War historians. The Trust warns that Newbury seems to be ‘one of the most threatened of English battlefields’. It goes on: ‘Already much of the south eastern periphery of the battlefield is extensively built over, with only a small area of Wash Common remaining undeveloped, to the east of Wash Common Farm’.
There has also been considerable development in the north east, with modern housing on the edge of Newbury continuing to encroach upon the battlefield. The good news, however, is that a big part of the ground upon which most of the action probably took place remains largely agricultural.
Across the northern edge of the battlefield, however, the Kennet and Avon canal was cut in the 18th century and then in the late 20th century, and far more destructive, the A34 Newbury bypass was constructed from north to south across the field, though probably largely to the rear of the parliamentarian positions.
According to Jon, however, the received wisdom about the actual site of the battlefield is wrong. It is usually described as running for the full two miles between the Rivers Kennet and Enborne over ground for the most part covered by Newbury’s 20th-century expansion. But, argues Jon, most of the real site still remains undeveloped.
He says: “My research, based on the original written accounts and a close comparison of the earliest detailed 18th century maps with today’s landscape, contradicts that received wisdom.
“Although ignored by previous accounts, Wash Common is and was bisected by a gulley which would have focused the fighting at the northern end around the cluster of ancient tumuli, ground which remains mainly open.
A similar analysis of the fighting between Wash Common and the River Kennet shows that the bulk of the infantry battle took place in the fields on either side of Cope Hall Lane. In other words, the vast majority of the first Newbury battlefield has survived.”
So why, you may ask, is this relevant to Newbury and its surrounding area today? Jon explains: “This reappraisal of the battlefield’s location matters not simply because it is an important part of our military and political heritage, the site of 1,500 deaths in a single day and the turning point of a war which transformed the nature of Britain.
If as I suggest most of the battlefield is still not built upon, archaeologists have the opportunity to put my theory to the test by surveying the area to find the tell-tale patterns of musket balls which show where the fighting took place. I hope they will do so.”
Indeed, Jon held a recent meeting with the West Berkshire Archaeological Unit, which confirmed that the battlefield site may be in line for development and they will soon have to look seriously at where the fighting actually took place. Says Jon: “That will play an important part in subsequent planning applications. They will use my research to help kick start that work.”
Over 350 years on, it seems that the English Civil War is still dividing opinion and provoking debate in Newbury and the surrounding areas.
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