Battle of Lansdown, July 1643.

[urbancohort]

As some will be aware, I am currently working on a later Stuart project, but a forced visit to Bath today allowed me to make a brief visit to an earlier battlesite, that of Lansdown just North of Bath.

Two former good friends found themselves facing off against each other. Sir William Waller MP and Sir Ralph Hopton (possibly an ancestor of my own via my Great Grandfather, who was illegitimate) led the Parliamentary forces and Royalist army respectively. Hopton's army with a large contingent of Cornish troops led by Sir Bevis Grenville was attacking Waller's troops in an attempt to gain control of Bath.

(PHOTO OF INFO BOARD LOCATED ON THE BATTLESITE)

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[urbancohort]

The Parliamentary army were well emplaced on the brow of the North facing slope. The modern trees were not present, giving good fields of fire down the valley towards where the Cornish Infantry were forced to ascend.

The first photo tries to show the remains of the emplacements and earthworks built by Waller's army

The second is a view back from the first up the escarpment.

The third is a view down towards the road, which I am assuming probably existed in 1643 as a dirt track used by farm animals.

The final photo is a view roughly along the line of Waller's initial deployments.

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[urbancohort]

Sir Bevis Grenville led his Cornishmen in a desperate attack. When I did basic training with the army reserves, an instructor told us the point of being a soldier was not to die for his country or cause, but to make some other bastard die for his. Waller's men must have carried out terrible execution and caused many many Cornish to die for Charles' cause. However, the ferocious infantry assault, uphill against emplaced infantry did succeed in driving back the Roundhead defenders and the drove them back up the slopes before disaster struck.

At the top of the slope Sir Bevis was cut down by a Parliamentary trooper. He fell from his horse, dead. His manservant and Standard bearer was a giant from Stratton near Bude, Tom Paine (?). He seized Grenville's son and placed him on his father's horse, rallying the faltering and no doubt tired men with the call: " A Grenville commands you yet!" The attack which could have faltered was renewed.

In the 1720s Grenville's grandson, Lord Lansdowne, marked the site with a grand monment which stands on the spot to this day, albeit somewhat battered by the passage of 300 years. It records the event in the terrible battle in which "more officers were killed than men". I think it may be the first war memorial in the country.

Lansdown was a conflicted man. He maintained the family's loyalty to the Stuart dynasty by choosing Jacobite exile in France over loyalty to Hanoverian new comers. This monument was his final act before he left England, and is also a political statement of his choices.

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[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Great info, thank you.

[urbancohort]

The battle raged until darkness. Charge and counter charge failed to decide the matters until the Parliamentary army took refuge behind a stone wall which still stands about 250 yards south of the ridge. The no doubt exhausted Cavaliers took position around where the monument now stands.

An artillery duel commenced causing great casualties. Waller's cannon were positioned in a sheep pound. This again still exists, now sheltering not sheep but a small copse.

PHOTO 1: this is a view of the field across which battle raged, looking from the East end of Waller's holding position back towards the monument. Cavalry ranged across the meadow, including 'Haselrigge's London Lobsters', fully armoured curaissiers closely resembling the knights of 150 years earlier.

PHOTO 2: the actual wall behind which the Parliamentary Infantry sheltered.

PHOTO 3: view across the field towards the Parliamentary position. The sheep pound was on the extreme right. In July 1643 this was the 'killing ground'.

PHOTO 4: a drystone wall bounding the Eastern boundary of the field. I assume this was contemporary.

PHOTO 5: Another view across the field towards the sheep pound

PHOTO 6: within the limitations of my camera phone a close up of the sheep pound. Whilst not visible on this, the gaps made to position the cannon and subsequent rebuilding can be clearly identified.

PHOTO8: contemporary visitor info boards.

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[urbancohort]

Both sides claimed victory. Waller slipped away in the dark, leaving lighted matches on the wall to persuade the Royalists that they had not retreated and stole an advance on Hopton. Dragoons later scouted the positions and reported the ruse. The Royalists abandoned their attempt to take Bath and set off after Waller.

They met again later that month at Roundway Hill in Wiltshire.

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[urbancohort]

AMENDMENTS:  The commander of the Cornish was Bevil Grenvile, not Bevis Grenville. His son was 13, not 16 and his standard bearer was Anthony Payne not Thomas Paine.

The Cornish made 3 assaults on Wallers position but Waller withdrew in good order even moving his cannon back. The Royalist cavalry broke when charged by Haselrigges troops and played no further part in the battle. Grenvile used his pikemen to hold the ridge brow whilst others joined him.

It is very likely Waller deliberately withdrew to provide a perfect killing ground for his own cavalry, given the flight of the Royalist which denuded Hopton of that arm of his forces almost entirely.

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[Leman]

Very interesting to see that again as it is over 20 years since I was last there.

[Steve J]

A good battlefield to walk with some stunning views nearby. Also of interest is a stone age settlement that looks to be next to where the Parliamentarians took up position behind the stone wall.

[urbancohort]

A good battlefield to walk with some stunning views nearby. Also of interest is a stone age settlement that looks to be next to where the Parliamentarians took up position behind the stone wall.

I knew about a Roman pewter works but not the Stone Age settlement, Steve. Whereabouts is it?

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[urbancohort]

A good guide which unfortunately I didn't have with me as I had to head to Bath on short notice for a minor domestic emergency is:

John Wroughton
The Battle of Lansdown 1643 An Explorer's Guide
ISBN 978-0-9520249-8-9
The Lansdown Press

I got my copy from the Roman Baths Museum shop a few years back.

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[d_Guy]

Thanks! Enjoyed seeing all the pics and your running commentary. You had done a photoessay of PhilipsNorton some time ago and I'm hoping you'll eventually get to Bridgewater-Westonzoyland. 

[Steve J]

The settlement is shown on the OS Explorer map 155 to the right of the monument. If I've got my grid references right, it is 726703. From memory it is to the left of the gap in the wall as you walk towards the wall from the monument. Hope this helps?

[urbancohort]

The settlement is shown on the OS Explorer map 155 to the right of the monument. If I've got my grid references right, it is 726703. From memory it is to the left of the gap in the wall as you walk towards the wall from the monument. Hope this helps?

Thanks! I'll take a dekko.

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[urbancohort]

Thanks! Enjoyed seeing all the pics and your running commentary. You had done a photoessay of PhilipsNorton some time ago and I'm hoping you'll eventually get to Bridgewater-Westonzoyland.  

Thanks d_guy. I hope so too. This was an opportunist visit as my daughter had suffered a seizure overnight and we'd gone down to Bath to bring her home for a check up ( not a new problem and she is fine though she may have to change her medications. Probably because she's started at Uni and has been ...erm... erratic in her bed times and eating habits in the early days of real adult life!) I needed to stretch my legs after driving 140 miles and before I did the return, so took advantage of the site being en route and decided to post them in case anyone was interested.

As you can likely tell, I was enjoying what the Irish call "soft weather"!

I will certainly do Sedgemoor, probably in the Spring.

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