ARCHIVED
 |
| Middlewich Town Council |
A special commemoration of the Battles of Middlewich which took place during the English Civil War - the first battle on the 13th March 1643 and the second on the 26th December in the same year.
A vivid description of the chaos and confusion brought to the town by the warring factions can be found in Allan Earl's Middlewich 900-1900 (Ravenscroft Publications 1990) (see Page 60 onward)
'Civil war in a small town like Middlewich must have been horrifying to its occupants.The townspeople would have been terrified of the men from both sides of the conflict. They were heavily armed and strangers, who no doubt pillaged to satisfy their greed and took advantage at every opportunity.
It is possible to envisage to some extent the confusion and noise in the narrow streets where the cottages crowded cheek by jowl in the vicinity of the Church and to imagine the shouts of fear and anger as the smoke of the fire engulfed the houses.
But the reality of a town awakened by Civil War on a March morning in 1642 is probably beyond our comprehension.'
Note that Allan has the year as 1642 rather than 1643. Malcolm Hough tells us that C.F. Lawrence's 1894 History Of Middlewich also gives the year as 1642. It most certainly wasn't 1943! (See below) - Ed
The classic account of the battles of Middlewich is contained in Ormerod's History of the County Palatine (1882).
 |
| Programme Part 1. Courtesy of Kerry Fletcher, Middlewich Town Council |
 |
| Programme Part 2. Courtesy of Kerry Fletcher, Middlewich Town Council |
The following photos show something of the re-enactments in the churchyard by the English Civil War Society
 |
| Pat Nancollas/Malcolm Hough |
 |
| Pat Nancollas/Macolm Hough |
 |
| Pat Nancollas/Malcolm Hough |
First published 24th May 2015
Expanded and re-published 24th may 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave your comments here. Please note that comments are moderated and, if they are particularly relevant, may be incorporated into the original diary entry.