Civil War

England’s past comes alive in South Oxfordshire

The first English Civil War took place between 1642 and 1646. On 22nd August 1642 King Charles I raised his standard and called all loyal Englishmen to fight for his cause. He believed that God appointed kings and it was his divine right to levy taxes as he wished and without the permission of his subjects or their representatives in parliament.

Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell and John Hamden, believed that the king had authority but should consult his elected Parliament about all matters of state. The conflict resulted in the English Civil War and the eventual execution of the King.

Several key sites of the war are located within South Oxfordshire.

The battle of Chalgrove Field took place around 9 o’clock on the morning of 18th June 1643. It was one of a number of skirmishes between the Earl of Essex’s army and the Oxford royalist forces that followed the fall of Reading.

Prince Rupert, the king’s brother, had learned, via the turncoat Colonel John Urray, of a parliamentary pay convoy of £21,000, heading for Thame. Unable to resist such a prize Rupert headed to intercept it with a force of 1,000 horse, 500 infantry and 350 dragoons.

Although he failed in his attempt to capture the parliamentarian payroll, Rupert was highly successful in disordering two parliamentarian quarters at Postcombe and Chinnor, capturing or killing 170 enemy troops and easily outwitting and outmanoeuvring his enemies at Chalgrove.

The importance of Chalgrove lies in the loss of Colonel John Hamden, who was fatally wounded in the conflict. Hamden died of his wounds at the Greyhound Inn, now Hamden House, in Thame. A plaque on the high street denotes the site.

Hamden earned the title of the ’Father of Democracy’ and two hundred years after his death a magnificent stone monument was erected in his memory. The monument was erected adjacent to the nearest road to the battlefield.

Phyllis Court (parliamentarian) and Greenland House (Royalist), both in Henley, were fortifed manor houses during the Civil War. Fawley Court in Henley was almost completely destroyed by a Cromwell supporter. The Rupert’s Elm was the site where Prince Rupert hanged a roundhead spy. The tree was eventually cut down in 1995 and a part of it can now be seen in the River and Rowing Museum.

Christmas Common, in the hills beyond Watlington, is so named because it was the scene of a truce in 1643, to enable both sides to celebrate Christmas. Today it is home to fields of Christmas trees.

Wallingford Castle was a Royalist stronghold until it was besieged in 1646. In fact it was the last Royalist stronghold to surrender. Cromwell’s army destroyed the castle stone by stone, and they were then used to build part of Windsor Castle. The ruins of the castle are still visible today.