Houses of Interest: Cambridgeshire

The entry for Cambridgeshire is supplemented by the separate entries for Cromwell's House, the Cromwell Museum,and the entry for Cambridge itself.

St Andrews Church, Northborough is where Cromwell's widow, Elizabeth Cromwell is buried. Her memorial stone is all but worn away, little more than 'ell' remaining visible. A plaque dedicated to her by the Cromwell Association is on the wall nearby.

Northborough Manor, home of the Claypoles (Cromwell's daughter, Elizabeth, married John Claypole in 1646), was fortified and the gatehouse garrisoned for Parliament. Reputedly visited by Old Knoll, this is, for once, quite a likely occurence (unlike most of the places Cromwell supposedly visited). The north wall has traces of gun loops cut into it. 

Northborough's gatehouse

Northborough's imposing gatehouse  can be rented as a holiday let; the house itself is privately owned, visits are possible by appointment only.

St Ives market place boasts a very fetching statue of Cromwell.

No cheating! All four Cromwell statues feature in ECWtravelogue posts - can you find them? No prizes I'm afraid, just a smug feeling of superiority

St Neots, the escape route for the fleeing Royalists was in the direction of the pedestrian crossing just to the left of the market cross 

St Neots Market Square on the other hand, saw most of the action of the battle of St Neots in the Second Civil War. 1648 the Kent and Welsh uprisings have gone badly, Pontefract and Colchester are under siege; so the Earl of Holland decides to raise a force to take London while the New Modelled Army is distracted. Sadly he doesn't get the numbers of men that he was hoping for, and Holland's 400 horse were scattered by London's men in Surrey. Half their number regrouped at St Neots. Fairfax dispatched 100 horse under Colonel Scrope to make sure that the Royalists did not get a foothold in the midlands. Scrope attacked Holland's pickets in the wee small hours of the 10th July. Scrope's men quickly overwhelmed the defences and literally caught the majority of Holland's men napping in the market place. Holland was captured, many Royalists were killed in the fighting, and of those that fled several drowned trying to cross the River Great Ouse.

One of the few surviving buildings in St Neots that witnessed the battle

Wisbech Castle was once a motte and bailey castle that morphed over time into a bishop's palace, a prison, then into the building that now stands upon the site. The castle has recently been taken over by Wisbech Castle Project who hope to restore the much neglected building back to the community. It is possible to visit the Castle's café; for hire as a wedding venue; and guided tours are available by appointment.

The Castle was fortified and garrisoned for Parliament during the Wars; it was then rebuilt as a home for John Thurloe, Cromwell’s Secretary of State.

Peterborough declared for Charles in 1642, which seems a little odd as the County is readily associated with the Eastern Association, and some fellow called Cromwell. 

There are some very well preserved timber framed buildings on Cumbergate, which saw the events that unfolded in the town. 

The market square is dominated by the guildhall, dating from the 1670s; both Essex and Rupert are 'immortalised' on the facade of the Edwardian building that now houses Pizza Express.

I must confess that I wondered why Essex and Rupert appeared on a building in Peterborough; the Cromwell Museum informed me a little of the history of these figures. 'Essex' is modelled on the statute of Cromwell that stands outside Westminster, and 'Rupert' has more of a passing resemblance to his uncle the King. The figures are incorrectly labelled - they should be Cromwell and King Charles (both of whom have a connection to Peterborough unlike Essex and Rupert). 

This up and coming Colonel Cromwell would take the town on the 18th April 1643. Cromwell was quartered in the house at the Vineyard (at the back of the Cathedral precincts) and his men in what is now the Cathedral. Symon Gunton reported that Cromwell was confined to bed for several days at the Vineyard after riding under a low gateway in the precincts and forgetting to duck. There is no public access to the Vineyard, tantalising glimpses of the property can be seen through the trees.

The Vineyard is there, I promise

The Cathedral was used as accommodation for his men. 

Looking through King's Lodging towards the Cathedral

They vandalised the perceived 'Papist trappings' of the Cathedral breaking almost all the stained glass; destroying the medieval choir stalls; demolishing the high altar, the cloisters and Lady Chapel. 

Some of the stained glass survived the destruction (most of the visible stained glass is Victorian)

 

The Orme family monument, damaged by soldiers

The mediaeval library and its contents were burnt, just one book being saved.

The saving of a book from the library, commemorated in stained glass in the Chapel of St Benedict

Another building in the Cathedral precinct had another role to play at the end of the War: The King’s Lodging reputedly played host to a captive Charles on route to Holdenby House.

A few miles outside Peterborough is Horsey Hill fort which is a very well preserved, five bastioned sconce, rather than the more usually seen four bastioned such as the Queen’s Sconce in Newark. The sconce is private property, and hidden by dense vegetation. It is best viewed from the road, approached from King’s Dyke layby/truckstop. This is a fast road, with no stopping or parking. The sconce gives up the briefest of glimpses of its shape and form. For the best views of the sconce (this is true for all sconces and earthworks to be very honest) visit satellite mapping apps such as Google Earth, occasionally drone footage is posted online.

Part of the ditch visible from the road - really doesn't do the site justice...

... my photo was taken roughly where the 'H' of Horsey Grange is on the plan

Horsey Hill from Google Earth 2008

March Sconce is accessible to the public. A popular dog exercising area might be best to watch where you walk. Sadly no easily distinguishable bastions, the site has had a confusing history: remains of strip farming and m occupation cloud the visible earthworks. Information boards and artist’s impressions help make sense of the site.

Tort Hill in Sawtry was the site of a gun emplacement that commanded the Great North Road (which it still does, even though it is now the A1(M)). Park at the local church and follow the footpath which heads north easterly towards the A1(M).

Upware Sconce commands the River access to the north of Cambridge, little to see on the ground or from satellite imagery, the site can be accessed from the car park at the end of Old School Lane.

Woodcroft Castle, now a private residence, and is hidden from view by mature trees (another site best viewed on the internet). Woodcroft was the setting for a desperate story during the Second Civil War: Parliamentarian forces led by Colonel Thomas Waite cornered Dr Michael Hudson, a Royalist commander, and fifteen of his men. Waite’s men made it into the castle after a 48 hour siege by successfully employing a petard, Hudson would not surrender and died on the castle’s roof.

Looking towards Kimbolton Castle

Kimbolton Castle was the home of Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester. Kimbolton is now a private school. The Castle can be visited by groups by arrangement, it is open to the public on just two days a year - the first Sundays in March and November. 

Shamelessly pinched from Twitter (@KirsanovTony), as my picture was accidentally deleted 

Wicken Church (sounds like somewhere to avoid on All Hallow's Eve), or more accurately St Lawrence's Church, Wicken, has a memorial to Henry Cromwell.

Earith Bulwark got a brief mention in the original entry for the Cromwell Museum. Like all sconces and earthworks they are best seen from above. Earith regularly hits the news when the New Bedford River floods, and fills the earthwork's ditches. It is believed to be the work of two English engineers, Richard Clamp and Captain John Hopes, and was located to guard a crossing point of the River Great Ouse.

The SW bastion of Earith, the ditch line can be seen on the left (the greener 'river' of land)
No idea how I came to have this photo 😉

Access is 'problematic': to the west of the road bridge that crosses the Old Bedford River (called the River Delph on Google Maps) is a small car park adjacent to 1-3 Bridge End, park here. 

Walk east over the bridge along the A1123 - please take care, this is a busy road. There are two options: head up the bridleway which follows the eastern bank of the Old Bedford River (by the air crash memorial), after about 300 metres there is an avenue of trees, on your right, that a spur of the bridleway takes - when I visited the gate was firmly 'locked' with barbed wire. This takes you to within 150 metres of the south west bastion of the bulwark. 

Alternatively carry on along the A1123 for another 15 metres (after the turning for the bridleway), and there is a footpath sign posted and gateway. I can't find this as a public right of way on Ordnance Survey maps, so can't categorically say *if* it legally goes to the Bulwark.

For those of you wondering, the structure on the south east bulwark is the remains of a gun emplacement dating from World War II, known as the `Alan-Williams' turret.

Work on the two Bedford drainage channels was started in 1638, but put on hold due to the outbreak of hostilites. Much of the initial work was damaged during the construction of the Bulwark; William Russell, the fifth Earl of Bedford, commissioned the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to complete the drainage channels.

Postcodes for SatNavs
St Andrews Church, Church St, Northborough PE6 9BN

Northborough Manor, Northborough PE6 9BJ

Market Place, St Ives PE27 5AD

Market Square, St Neots PE19 2BQ

Wisbech Castle, The Crescent, Wisbech PE13 1ES

Cumbergate, Peterborough PE1 1YR
Peterborough Cathedral PE1 1XS
Vineyard PE1 1XU
King’s Lodging PE1 1XS
St Peter’s Church Yaxley PE7 3LH
Tort Hill (All Saints Church), Sawtry PE28 5RD
Horsey Hill Fort PE7 2PP
March Sconce, March PE15 9BW 
Upware Sconce, Old School Lane CB7 5ZR 
Woodcroft Castle, Peterborough PE6 7HA 

Kimbolton Castle, Kimbolton  PE28 0EA

St Lawrence's Church, Church Rd, Wicken CB7 5XT

Earith Bulwark parking, Bridge End, Earith PE28 3PT

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