Battle of Aylesbury 1642 – drovers, Christmas beef & London

The Battle of Aylesbury in 1642 was a vital moment in the King’s advance after Edgehill. Many have forgotten it. However, it was a key prelude to the battles of Brentford and Turnham Green outside London.

It was almost certainly a meeting engagement on the flanks of the race to take the capital after the Battle of Edgehill. But it may well have also been about controlling the supply of food to London – a fight for its Christmas beef.

Buckinghamshire map published by Thomas Jenner in 1643
Buckinghamshire map 1643

This article aims to provide historical notes to accompany God’s Vindictive Wrath by Charles Cordell. The notes are listed in order roughly matching the text. They cover the Battle of Aylesbury in 1642. This website includes more notes to other sections of the novel. These include the Battle of Edgehill and the Battle of Brentford.

Battle of Edgehill & the Race to Seize London

After the Battle of Edgehill, fought on the 23rd October 1642, Essex withdrew to Warwick Castle. This left the way open for the King and his royalist army to advance on London, via Oxford and Reading. Essex finally marched south to save the parliamentary capital on Sunday 31st October, a full five days behind the King.

Essex followed the line of Watling Street (now the A5) with the main body of his army towards St Albans and London. However, he sent a separate, smaller force further south towards Aylesbury. He probably intended it as a flank guard to protect his march. Whatever the intention, this force clashed with a royalist force just outside Aylesbury.

Battle of Aylesbury – 3rd November 1642

The Battle of Aylesbury has been much misunderstood. It remains a subject of debate. This probably stems from over reliance on parliamentary propaganda rather than historical fact. Ye Battle Of Aylesbury, 1642: Good and Joyful News out of Buckinghamshire, London, 1642 (E.126[9]) may be correct in reporting the rough outline of the battle. However, it is clearly written from one perspective only. Some details of the royalist participants are incorrect.

It is likely that the parliamentarian force was led by Balfour’s Horse. They were followed by John Hampden’s local Buckinghamshire Foot and Grantham’s Lincolns. These clashed with what were probably two royalist horse regiments.

Lord Henry Wilmot – Commissary-General of Horse

Parliamentary and most subsequent accounts state that the royalist force at Aylesbury was led by Prince Rupert of the Rhine. However, Rupert led the King’s advance on the main access along the Thames Valley. We know this from his own journal. As the Lieutenant-General of Horse, we would also expect to see Rupert leading the King’s army, not on a flank.

It is likely that Lord Henry Wilmot led the royalist force that occupied Aylesbury. As Commissary-General and second in command of the royalist horse, this would place him in his natural position, on the army’s left flank. Wilmot arrived in Aylesbury at 06:00 on the 1st November. The two regiments with him are likely to have been from his brigade.

Almost certainly, the action took place on the afternoon of Thursday the 3rd of November 1642 (not the 1st). We know that Essex did not reach Olney until late on the 2nd. It would seem military unreasonable for Essex to have sent a force so far ahead of his main body. We also know that Hampden wrote to Aylesbury’s Parliamentary Committee on the 1st to say that he could not march until the next day.

The Fight at Holman’s Bridge

The battle itself was probably a running contact rather than a pitched (static) battle. However, the main action almost certainly took place around what is now Holman’s Bridge. This was a ford in 1642. The line of the River Thame provides a natural obstacle and defence, protecting Aylesbury from the north. It is likely that Wilmot would have placed an outguard at the ford to protect his forces in the town. This may have occupied an earlier version of the Horse and Jockey Inn.

An action around Holman’s Bridge fits well with the parliamentary account narrated in Ye Battle Of Aylesbury, 1642: Good and Joyful News out of Buckinghamshire. This describes both parliamentary foot and horse troops advancing on the ford and a fight on the meadows north of the Thame. It also describes the royalist horse troops arriving piecemeal to pitch into the battle.

Ultimately, Wilmot was forced to withdraw. He abandoned Aylesbury. By the end of the battle, the Puritan town was up in arms and threatening his rear. He pulled his force back to Thame. Wilmot then moved south to Colnbrook, which he occupied on the 5th of November 1642. The King joined him at Colnbrook on the 9th, hosting peace talks there, before the Battle of Brentford on the 12th of November.

Casualties & Memorial at the Church St Mary the Virgin Hardwick

Although only a minor action, there were a significant number of casualties at the Battle of Aylesbury. Some 247 bodies were reportedly unearthed near Holman’s Bridge in 1818. Some still had hair and bits of brain intact. They were identified at the time as Civil War dead and reburied in the churchyard at Hardwick with the following inscription:

Within are deposited the bones of 247 Persons who were discovered A.D. 1818, buried in a field adjoining to Holman’s Bridge, near Aylesbury. From the History and appearances of the place where they were found, they were considered to be the bones of those officers and men who perished in an engagement fought A.D. 1642.”

Some doubt remains as to whether all the bones came from the area of Holman’s Bridge. There is also doubt as to whether all were Civil War casualties. It is possible that at least some of the remains were from quarrying at Bierton and that some may be Saxon. Either way, definitive dating of the bodies re-buried at Hardwick would help to gain a better understanding of the scale the Battle of Aylesbury in 1642.

Battle of Aylesbury 1642 memorial
Memorial to the 247 bodies discovered at Holman’s Bridge in 1818, St Mary’s Hardwick

Archaeological Evidence – musket balls & powder caps at Holman’s Bridge

In 1999, a metal detecting survey uncovered 26 lead musket balls and four powder box caps in the area of Holman’s Bridge. This was a survey ahead of housing development to the north of the Thame meadow and west of the Buckingham road. It was limited in scale to just over half a square kilometre.

The survey’s archaeological report (Foard 2013, 39) concluded that a military action had taken place near Holman’s Bridge in the mid-17th Century. The finds suggested a primarily horse (cavalry) action with some foot (infantry) involved. This would seem to fit with the narrative of Ye Battle Of Aylesbury, 1642: Good and Joyful News out of Buckinghamshire.

Whilst not conclusive, this archaeological evidence does point to a skirmish at least around Holman’s Bridge. Aylesbury residents have also described to the author finding other musket balls whilst playing as children on the banks of the Thame around Holman’s Bridge.

Drovers, Christmas Beef & London – the Importance of Aylesbury

It is likely that Wilmot was dispatched to Aylesbury to act as a flank guard. The King and Prince Rupert would have known that Essex was marching on Wattling Street to their north. The aim would have been to screen and protect the King’s advance along the Thames Valley from any interference by Essex. This makes sound military sense today.

However, it is also possible that Wilmot intended to intercept the Welsh beef droves heading for London in November. The Commissary-General may have seen these as a valuable prize and source of mobile protein to feed the King’s army. It is equally possible that Wilmot saw an opportunity to intercept the beef destined for London’s Christmas tables.

This was an attempt to demoralise the citizens of the capital through the control of food. It would have placed the King in a position of power and could have encouraged an uprising against a Parliament that could not feed its people. Ultimately, these beef droves not only provided feasting at Christmas but the protein essential to get the population through the long winter. Today we would see this as ‘weaponising food’.

Welsh Cattle Droves, Geese, Aylesbury Ducks & Martinmas

Welsh cattle drovers fattened cattle in the Vale of Aylesbury each November. The ancient ‘Welsh Road’ ran from South Wales via the Aust crossing of the Severn. It continued via Gloucester, Weatley, Thame, Missendon, and on to Smithfield Market and London. The welsh drove their cattle to fairs in the Home Counties for early November. These included Blackwater (8th November) and Farnham (10th November). A typical drove might have fifty head of cattle.

Flocks of geese and the famous Aylesbury ducks were also driven to London ahead of Christmas. Travelling pedlars sold wares and brought news to villages. Other performers, such as a fiddler, or crowder would move to the same fairs as the cattle drovers. They would be happy to play for a few coins. Despite the war, traders would have moved as they always had done. Only now refugees swelled the traffic on the roads.

The beef droves, geese and ducks were all timed to be in London for Martinmas, the 12th of November. This was the day of slaughter. Any animals that could not be kept through the winter were killed, butchered, prepared and preserved for Christmas and the winter ahead.

The 12th of November, Martinmas, 1642 was to be marked by the Battle of Brentford. But that is another story and article.

Prince Rupert & the Second Battle of Aylesbury – 21 March 1643

Finally, the Battle of Aylesbury of 1642 should not be confused with a separate action outside the town in 1643. This second action involved a force led by Prince Rupert probing the parliamentary defences of Aylesbury.

This skirmish took place between Wendover and the south eastern edge of Aylesbury, ‘almost within cannon shot’ of the town on 21 March 1643. The parliamentary broadsheet Perfect Diurnal of 27 March 1643 provides an account.

Aylesbury - John Hampden Statue
Aylesbury Market Place – Statue to John Hampden MP

More English Civil War historical notes & maps

I hope you found these notes on the Battle of Aylesbury in 1642 useful. You may also want to read notes on the Battle of Edgehill and the race from Edgehill to London. This site also has notes on the Battle of Brentford and London’s Lines of Communication, as well as articles on the Battle of Brentford, the Storming of Winchester and the Battle of Roundway Down.

If you are planning to visit the locations in these notes, please do also check out the resources on the Battlefields Hub. This is a site run by the Battlefields Trust, a volunteer organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting Britain’s battlefields. Their guided battlefield walks are excellent.

You can also read about Pike and Shot Warfare. This article explains the clash between Dutch and Swedish military doctrines at Edgehill in 1642. This website also includes articles on The General Crisis of the 17th Century and the backdrop of The Thirty Years War. You can also read about the English Revolution and the Great Rebellion of 1642.

God’s Vindictive Wrath – English Civil War novel

These historical notes accompany the text of God’s Vindictive Wrath, a Divided Kingdom novel by Charles Cordell. The story opens at the Battle of Edgehill and closes with the Battle of Brentford in 1642. It includes an account of the often forgotten Battle of Aylesbury.

The Divided Kingdom books take a fresh approach. They are not based on a single hero. They do not take sides. Their voices – ordinary men and women – face each other in the chaos of Britain in civil war. They are both relatable and sharply relevant today. They are also as historically accurate as is possible.

Please do check out some of the writing at Divided Kingdom Books, including book tasters and a FREE ebook short story.

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Finally, please check out the posts on Early Modern Life and the British Civil Wars. These include a post on Re-enacting the Battle of Edgehill in 2022. I hope they are of interest.

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