Rupert's March North: Part One, Cheshire

-
Regular readers (hello both of you) will realise that my mini-series of battlefield visits is on a bit of a break, due to my battlefield 'hit-list' being not so local anymore. However there were a number of skirmishes and sieges locally. Each of these actions probably doesn't warrant an article by itself, however many of these incidents were related to Rupert's march to York. So I have decided to retrace Rupert's route through Cheshire and Lancashire, adding in any other events/locations as asides. For ease of writing south of the Mersey is 'Cheshire', north of the Mersey is 'Lancashire'.

1644, the Marquis of Newcastle is under siege in York, a last stronghold of Royalist power in the north. The Parliamentarian army of the Eastern Association has been joined by the Scots army of the Solemn League and Covenant. A beleaguered Newcastle has requested help from the King in his stronghold at Oxford.

Charles dispatches Prince Rupert north with an army, and is expected to augment his numbers en route to York.

Prince Rupert and his witch's familiar, Boye the hunting poodle.
      
19th May, Rupert entered Cheshire with a 10000 strong army. In the south of the county his army bivouacked at Rudheath , the encampment site now lost to development; Knutsford Heath, which is still protected open land; and Bowdon Downs, again lost to development. Whilst camped on Knutsford Heath, the poorly paid royalist army pillaged Knutsford. A large Parliamentarian force also camped here in 1651 en route to Worcester.

Knutsford Heath

Rupert needed to cross the River Mersey, and set out to cross the river at the lightly fortified town of Stockport.

William Davenport 

Prior to entering Stockport, Rupert's army overnighted at Bramall Hall, it's owner William Davenport complaining: "in May 1644 came Prince Rupert his army, by whom I lost better than a hundred pounds in linens and other goods... besides the rifling and pulling in pieces of my house." 

Bramall is home to possibly the finest original Tudor plaster ceiling in existence 

Horses, tack and hay were also taken, but the house itself received little damage. The shop/visitor centre at the Hall has an interactive console concerning Rupert's men, and William's diary of their visit.


Bramall Hall is beautifully preserved and is open to the public. Limited parking is available. Fans of "Last Tango in Halifax" may recognise it as the Hall where Alan and Celia got locked in overnight.

Bramall Hall

Rupert besieged Stockport on the 25th May, Washington's dragoons leading the attack. The Parliamentarian garrison fled almost before the first musket balls hit their mark. Rupert and his army went onto sack the town, an event recreated almost every Friday and Saturday night by the locals.

The Civil War represented by Joyce Pallor and Henry Collins in their 1978 concrete mural on the side of the old BHS store in Merseyway (for a mural that 'tells' the story of Stockport I would have thought they might have used the date 1644, for the siege)


Other stuff:

Stockport is probably best driven through quickly (and I say that as an Old Stopfordian), as it hasn't changed much in demeanour since Frederick Engels described it as “one of the dustiest, smokiest holes” in 1844.

Stockport marketplace dates to medieval times and is the location of two buildings of interest, and the site where Stockport Castle stood (the area by the side of the Bakers Vaults): Staircase House, a Fifteenth century house which is now a museum, rooms are laid out to represent the house through the ages (a combined ticket allows entry to both the House and Bramall Hall); and St Mary's in the marketplace, originally dating from 1190. The present church is a Victorian monstrosity, famous for holding the parish register in which John Bradshaw's birth was recorded in 1602. Bradshaw was Lord-President of the High Court of Justice and presided over the trial of Charles I, pronouncing the sentence of death. His birth entry in the parish register has had the word 'traitor' added at a later date. His body was exhumed from Westminster Abbey and executed.

Bradshaw's birth record - note 'traitor' added bottom right hand corner

Bradshaw was born in High Lane, either at Wybersley Hall, or at the nearby Peace Farm/The Place in Marple. Wybersley Hall is a private property but can been seen from the roadside. 


Peace Farm/The Place has long since been demolished, but a blue plaque commemorates his birth on the side of the petrol station shop which now stands on the site.

Handforth Hall/Honford Hall was the home of Sir William Brereton, the Parliamentarian victor at the battle of Nantwich. Sadly the Hall is now a private property. After Sir William died his body was being returned to Handforth for burial, but the coffin was swept away in a flood at a river crossing in Croydon and never recovered.

Handforth Hall

Little Moreton Hall is a moated timber framed hall that looks like it is straight out of a Harry Potter film set. The Moreton family were Royalists, and had the hall requisitioned to billet Parliamentarian soldiers. The family eventually recovered the Hall but were financially ruined. The Hall is presented to the public in all it's Tudor/Stuart finery. Possibly Little Moreton Hall's greatest claim to fame is that nobody of any historical note ever slept there. People who own a spirit level might need a lie down after visiting, as there isn't a level surface in sight.





Little Moreton Hall

Lyme Hall is a typical National Trust estate: deer, posh coffee, gift shop, expensive car park. It featured in the BBC adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice', and a Warburton's advert  'Pride and Breadjudice'*. Neither Mr Darcy nor Peter Kay can be seen emerging from the lake at the front of the property, sorry to disappoint.

The Legh family were supporters of the King; once Charles had been executed, his death cloak was spirited away, and sections were distributed to loyal households. Lyme received a piece and it was used to upholster the underneath of a chair. It couldn't be put on open display for fear of retribution from the Commonwealth, so was used to upholster the underneath of some chairs.

The hall is home to some of Grinling Gibbons finest work.

"The craziest Elizabethan frontispiece" Pevsner's description of this façade of Lyme

Peover has a connection to the Mainwairing family. the family tombs and memorials are located at St Lawrence's Church,  Sir Philip Mainwairing's civil war armour is on display here too.


Their home, Peover Hall is open to the public during the summer months, possibly more famous for being General Patton's headquarters during the second world war though. Also used as one of the locations for the BBC series Peaky Blinders.



Selected Bibliography
On The Civil War Trail  J.P.Mann, Cheshire County Council
The Civil Wars in Cheshire R.N.Dore, Cheshire Community Council


Postcodes for SatNavs
Knutsford Heath on street parking WA16 0NB
Bramall Hall SK7 3NX
St Mary's Stockport SK1 2LX
Texaco, Marple (site of Peace Farm)  SK6 6DQ
Wybersley Hall SK6 8HB
Handforth Hall SK9 3AE
Little Moreton Hall CW12 4SD
Lyme Hall SK12 2NX
Peover Hall WA16 9HW
St Lawrence's Church, Over Peover WA16 9PY

*whatever you do, do not, under any circumstances mention the advert to the volunteer guides at the hall - they get very upset and agitated, and need to go and lie down

Part 1 points of interest - purple
Part 2 green
Part 3 orange
Part 4 has its own map





If you enjoyed reading this, or any of the other posts, please consider supporting the blog. 
Thanks.


Popular posts from this blog

Newark's Defences - a town under siege

-
Image
The ECWtravelogue has visited Newark many times. The King, Queen Henrietta Maria, Prince Rupert all visited; it is home to the National Civil War Centre ; and is the location of possibly the best preserved Civil War earthwork - The Queen's Sconce . So why does it deserve another blog entry? In a word: Clampe's Plan ( but that's two! ). Clampe drew a plan of the Royalist defences of Newark and the Parliamentarian, and Scots siege lines. There's also another, slightly different, later version of the map: Buck's Map, which is held in the Royal Collection and can be viewed online here . The Queen's Sconce survived, did anything else? Clampe's Plan  I've seen photographs of other earthworks in Newark, but no locations for them. A little sleuthery comparing Nottingham's register of ancient monuments, and Historic England's records has resulted in an extensive list of sites. Unfortunately, the locations are so complex that they don't fit my normal
Read more

Trees

-
Image
It has been said of wargamers that they spend all their time painstakingly painting figures and then ignore the terrain. A trend that I feel is changing for the better with printed game mats and 'teddy bear fur'.   Today's post looks at trees: more specifically, Woodland Scenics deciduous Realistic Tree Kits. 2"-3" trees, light green foliage, PP and SF figures for comparison Warning: great trees, messy process. The trees come in several different sizes. Packaging varies, sample kits consisting of armatures and foliage are available, or alternatively elements can be bought separately. They all 'work' the same regardless of 'version'. 2"-3" on the left, 3"-5" on the right I've gone for the 2"-3" armatures and 3" - 5" armatures. Armatures are tree trunk brown plastic and look very uninspiring when you first encounter them., as they are 2 dimensional. But do not be put off, the 2D branches can be bent and the
Read more

Houses of Interest: West Yorkshire

-
Image
For more Yorkshire 'related stuff' you can find North Yorkshire here ,  South Yorkshire here ,   East Riding here . See also the Rupert Travelogue  entry for Yorkshire, and the entry for Adwalton Moor Oakwell Hall    was the inspiration for Charlotte Brontë's Fieldhead in "Shirley". More recently it has been used a number of times as a film set, including "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell". Located close to the M62 and the Leeds branch of purgatory on Earth (aka Ikea), this Tudor manor house is beautifully maintained by Kirklees Borough Council. The hall is presented as a seventeenth century home. I really like this approach, as so often historic houses have different rooms decorated for different eras, so it is really nice to see a house presented from one era in it's entirety. Oakwell was in the ownership of the Batt family, who supported the King; John Batt was a captain and most probably fought at Adwalton Moor. The retreating Parli
Read more

My Kingdom For A Horse (1991)

-
Image
Civil War films are, to say the least, thin on the ground. So, forgive me for scraping the bottom of the barrel. My Kingdom For A Horse was a BBC made for TV play written by John Godber. The protagonist, 31 year old, still living with his parents, history teacher Steve is played by Sean Bean.  Steve and his best friend Pud, are pikemen in the Sealed Knot. Unfortunately for Steve, his head of department is also a member of the Sealed Knot, even more unfortunately he's the 'muster master general'. With the backdrop of the Sealed Knot, Airfix 54mm ECW miniatures, and frequent references to Marston Moor, Cromwell, and the New Model Army, the dour Steve plods through life in a dilapidated Yorkshire secondary school. No spoilers, but everyone who has ever taught in a secondary school will do an internal cheer when Steve has a showdown with the school bully. There's some seriously big hair, floppy fringes, brown suits, a school held up by ACRO props (nothing changed there then
Read more

Houses of Interest: Staffordshire

-
Image
The  ECW Travelogue turns its attention on Staffordshire. For some reason, rather than starting the entry at the bit of Staffs that is 'next door' to  Château KeepYourPowderDry I started with the corner of Staffs that was furthest away. The first entries look at the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester. Of course any post about Staffordshire requires, by law, pictures of Staffordshire slipware - this one by Thomas Toft; Potteries Museum, Hanley First up is Moseley Old Hall  on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, and is cared for by the National Trust. Moseley bills itself as "the home that saved a king" - considering the number of close calls that Charles had during his escape, this isn't really the unique selling point that you might expect it to be. I do wonder how many other houses, along the Monarch's Way could also make that claim? Built about 1600, the National Trust have recreated a seventeenth century garden on the estate. A rather s
Read more

Comments. Again (!)

-
Image
Sorry regular readers, once again comments and the contact form have temporarily been turned off. Why? Someone on Twitter has got their knickers in a twist about an information panel at Newark Castle.  Why has she done that? Because the information board features an image of a man of African descent.  The man pictured is an actor, portraying a man called John Americanus, who fought for the King at Newark. John's role in the defence of Newark is well documented. And yes, John was of African descent. The National Civil War Centre created a Civil War Trail around the town, information panels are located at points of interest. These panels feature QR codes which accessed features on a now defunct smartphone app. Each location also featured an eye witness account - stories from real people who witnessed the events in Newark. Each information panel has a photographic representation of the person whose story was told in the app. The Castle's eyewitness account was John Americanus. Unf
Read more

Coat Colours Part 2: Royalist Regiments of Foot

-
Image
Continuing my therapeutic blogging (write rather than rant) antidote to incorrect English Civil War coat colour tables for wargamers, I give you the Royalist Regiments of Foot. For all of my coat colour articles see: Introduction   Part 1  Parliamentarian coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Part 4  Dragoons, Horse and the New Model Army coat colours The Trained Bands London Trained Bands Auxiliary regiments Scarves   Same rules apply here, as they did with the Parliamentarian coat colours: Regiments often got renamed when command passed to a new colonel - these regiments are listed under their first name e.g. Jacob Astley's Regiment was originally Richard Fielding's Regiment. Coat colour notes refer to contemporaneous references and some of the deductions made by Reid, Spring,  Peachey and Prince. You will also notice that some regiments have several coat colours listed. Where there is some question around a coat colour I have t
Read more

Coat Colours Part 1: Parliamentarian Regiments of Foot

-
Image
When I first started my Civil War gaming project I relied upon the many ECW coat colour tables on wargaming websites. As my project has progressed, my library has got bigger, my research has gone back to primary sources rather than relying upon second and third hand sources; and I have noticed quite a few errors in these lists for wargamers. I have also noticed the same errors appearing in multiple lists.     As a result of continually seeing 'the London Trained Bands and their Auxiliaries wore red coats' (there is no evidence supporting this at all, the evidence, whilst not explicit suggests that the London Trained Bands wore civilian clothes - some of the Auxiliaries might have been issued with blue winter coats) I decided to write my own list.  So here it is. If your allegiance lies elsewhere you might want to look at  Introduction   Part 2  Royalist coat colours Part 3  Scots coat colours Part 3B  Montrose and the Irish Brigade Pa
Read more

Lurkio ECW Range

-
Image
Always on the look out for new toys, I spotted Lurkio have started releasing their new ECW range after a bit of a hiatus. Thank you to Lurkio for kindly sending me some figures for review. My favourite figure from the samples I was sent, not quite sure what has happened to his face though I'll be very straight here, these might not be to everybody's taste. Why? They are headless (yay!) and the pikemen are open handed (double yay!). Whilst that makes me very happy, I know that many baulk at the idea of having to assemble teeny bits on figures, and see any assembly on anything smaller than 28mm figures a complete no-no.  The return of the scale-o-matic, horizontal lines are at 5mm spacing For those of you new to this 'sticking things together' game it isn't a problem, in fact it is pretty straightforward*. I find putting a big blob of superglue onto a palette, then use a cocktail stick as a glue spreader, the best way to get superglue into the precise area that you wa
Read more

Pikes

-
Image
I must not write "don't tell him your name Pike".  I must not write "don't tell him your name Pike". Oh damn! Pikemen figures come in two varieties, with cast on pikes, and open handed. Having previously owned 6mm ECW pikemen armed with pikes which quickly turn to overcooked spaghetti, I went the open handed pikemen route.  For those of you who choose this path, open handed pikemen raises two questions: how long should a pike be?, and where can I buy pikes from?  All this gives me an excuse to have a closer look at the 'queen of weapons'. How long should a pike be? You'd think that this question would be fairly easy to answer, it is in fact more than a little problematical. Pikes were between 15' and 18' in length, which should be quite easy to scale down, or so you would think. Sir James Turner  (Pallas Armata p.176) and General Monck (Observations p.26) both stated that the proper length for a pike should be 18'.The 1639 Direction
Read more