Keep Your Powder Dry

The Civil Wars in Leicestershire are overshadowed by events leading upto, and after the Battle of Naseby just over the border in Northamptonshire.  For more Leicestershire Civil War locations see  the storming of Leicester (coming soon), Market Harborough's role after  Naseby , and Belvoir Castle . Kirby Bellars , the remains of this C14th moated manor house were reinforced with earthworks to provide protection for its Parliamentarian garrison. The garrison deserted the site after the fall of Leicester. Marked on the OS map as 'moat' it is best viewed on satellite mapping apps. More hardy souls might want to take the footpath from 36 Main Street westwards that curves round to the south to meet Leicester Road. 1620s House Slightly before 'our' period the 1620s House and Gardens at Donington le Heath gives a fascinating insight into how people lived during the troubled times. Excellent tea rooms (the menu is not C17th themed). The original Tudor manor of Coleorton Hal...

 The #ECWtravelogue finally turns its attention to the County of Berkshire. Although that isn't strictly true, having visited the County before to visit the battlefields of Newbury 1 and 2, Donnington Castle, and the rather excellent West Berkshire Museum. You can find the entry here . The Natwest Bank in Maidenhead stands on the site of  The Greyhound Inn , where King Charles met three of his children in July 1647. Littlecote Littlecote House , Hungerford, has appeared in KeepYourPowderDry entries many times before: famous for having the best preserved, intact Civil War armoury in the country. The collection was put up for sale, and thankfully purchased by the Royal Armouries. Unfortunately a small handful of items from the collection made their way onto eBay before the Royal Armouries were able to secure the sale. The House itself is now a resort style hotel, open to residents only I'm afraid. The general public can visit the grounds to explore the Roman Villa on the site. T...

The opening entries in the ECWtravelogue entry for Hertfordshire are very Army Newly Modelled* heavy, and also cover the rise of the Levellers. But first a little background October 1647: Charles is imprisoned at Hampton Court; the Army Council has abandoned any attempt at negotiating with Charles as he has refused to engage with them for a number of weeks; and, Cromwell dissociates the Army leadership from the demands of the Levellers.  With this back drop, the Putney Debates begin: the Putney Debates were a series of debates that attempted to resolve the burning question of what to do with the King, a King who refused to negotiate, in order to draw a line under the First Civil War. On one side were the Army Grandees who wanted a solution that included Charles remaining as head of state. On the other, the radicals, most notably the Levellers, who wanted a constitution based upon one man, one vote, biennial Parliaments and a re-organisation of parliamentary constituencies. Throw in...

Considering Buckinghamshire lay between the King at Oxford, and Parliament in London, the county was surprisingly quiet during the Civil Wars with no major conflicts taking place. Boarstall Tower was garrisoned for the King as part of Oxford's outer defences. When nearby Brill fell to Parliament the garrison fled, and the house was occupied by John Hampden. Hampden's men left in 1644 and the house was retaken for the King by Colonel Henry Gage. Gage's assault launched  a heavy bombardmnent of the house, and the resident Lady Dynham, was forced to flee the house in disguise. Fairfax led an unsuccessful assault on the house in May 1645; he would return on the 10th June 1646, taking the house after a siege lasting 18 hours. Boarstall Tower Boarstall Tower is cared for by the National Trust, and has limited opening hours.  All Saints, Brill All Saints Church in Brill is believed to have the remains of Royalist earthwork defences to the north of the churchyard.  Brill is al...

A trip down south to that there London gave the ECWtravelogue an excuse to have a teeny detour on the way home to visit Chalgrove Field. April 1643, Reading falls to Parliament's field army led by the Earl of Essex: Oxford is now open to assault by Essex to the East; and Waller, and the Southern Association, who are in the Gloucester area. There is no love lost between Essex and Waller, which is fortunate for the King and Oxford, as if they had coordinated their armies on attacking Oxford the King would have been in very hot water. As it was, Waller became preoccupied by Hopton, and Essex was faced with the problems of  his men being sick, and disaffected due to not being paid. Then a stroke of luck for Charles: Sir John Hurry (often Urry) defects to the King (Sir John is oft described as a Scottish mercenary) providing details of Essex's garrisons and also a convoy carrying pay for Essex's men. Needless to say Prince Rupert is dispatched with a force of 1800 'hand pick...

After the trauma (!) of researching Turlough MacHenry Ó Néill, I'm giving the  Ó Néill s a wide berth for a wee while, and researching a not-Ó Néill regiment. The monumental job of cutting and drilling away cast on pikes that are much too short The Farrells were rulers of Annaly, roughly the modern County Longford. They lost about a quarter of their lands in the plantation of Longford in 1618 but were still in control of the county at the outbreak of the 1641 rebellion. So it comes as no surprise that they joined the rebellion in 1641, setting out their grievances in a letter to Lord Dillon, who presented it to the Dublin government on their behalf: The Papists in the neighbouring counties are severely punished and their miseries might serve as beacons unto us to look unto our own, when our neighbours houses are on fire.  They expressed their support for the king and enclosed an oath of loyalty to him. However, they also voiced their disappointment that as Catholics ...