Battle of Turnham Green 1642 – the defence of London
The Battle of Turnham Green 1642 ended the King’s attempt to seize London after Edgehill. Though less well known than the Battle of Edgehill, its impact was far reaching. The King never again came so close to entering the capital as a victor.
This page aims to provide historical notes to accompany God’s Vindictive Wrath, a novel by Charles Cordell. The notes cover the Battle of Turnham Green in 1642. This website includes other historical notes on the Battle of Edgehill, the Edgehill to London Campaign and the Battle of Brentford in 1642. It also includes background articles on The General Crisis of the 17th Century and Pike and Shot Warfare.
Battle of Edgehill – 23 October 1642
The Battle of Edgehill was fought on the 23rd of October 1642. It was the first major battle of the English Civil War. Many had anticipated a single show of force or token battle – a letting of blood to ‘purge the nation’. But Edgehill left many in shock. It descended into a brutal drawn-out slog, with no conclusive ending.
The King’s army was first to recover from the battle. What followed was a campaign to seize London. Had it succeeded, it might have ended the English Civil War within three months. Its failure led to the protracted slaughter of the British Civil Wars – the bloodiest conflict in British history.
The King’s March on London & the Battle of Aylesbury
The King marched via Oxford. As his army advanced on London, the King gained support along the way. By the 4th of November, he had entered Reading. Doubt and uncertainty gripped London. Many feared that Prince Rupert and his cavaliers would sack the city in a Thirty Years War style assault.
The Earl of Essex and his parliamentary army licked their wounds in Warwick until the 31st of October. Finally, they raced to reach London via Daventry, Wattling Street and St Albans.
Detachments of each army clashed at the Battle of Aylesbury. This was almost certainly a meeting engagement on the flanks of the race for the capital. However, it may well have also been a fight for control of winter food supplies for London – a battle for its Christmas beef.
London’s Civil War Defences – the Lines of Communication
London had begun to prepare defences almost as soon as hostilities commenced. However, these became a much more serious undertaking after Edgehill. The sense of their need became very real. As Prince Rupert and the royalist army approached, it became almost feverish.
As many as 20,000 people a day laboured on the London defences. Women and children worked alongside men. Samuel Butler’s ‘Hudibras’ includes the famous lines, “From Ladies down to oyster wenches laboured like pioneers in the trenches.” Another report stated,
“The terror of the citizens, which made a prodigious number of persons of all ranks, ages and sex offer themselves to work, and by unfeigned application in digging, carrying of earth, and other materials soon accomplished their fortification”.
To encourage the work the authorities held book burnings. The volunteers marched out “with roaring drums, flying colours, and girded swords”. Girls cheered as they marched to dig the defences.
Almost certainly, Puritanical religious sermons whipped up the zeal to dig. The sermon of “Curse ye Meroz” was preached by Stephen Marshall to Parliament earlier in 1642. It seems well suited to the occasion and may have been reused.
Ultimately, the Lines of Communication were to include a ditch and bank 11 miles long. With 23 forts, it surrounded London, Westminster and Southwark. However, they were not complete by November 1642.
Tracing the Lines of Communication – London’s Civil War defences today
On its western edge, the Lines of Communication stretched from Vauxhall to a fort on Constitution Hill. This fort is now within the gardens of Buckingham Palace. A larger fort sat at the junction of Piccadilly and Old Park Lane. This site is now occupied by the Hard Rock Shop and RAF Club.
Berkley Square almost certainly marks the next fort. Conduit Street follows the line of the ditch and bank leading North East. It joined a large fort on the high ground at the junction of Oxford Street and Berwick Street, close to what is now Next.
The Battle of Brentford – 12th November 1642
After a forced march, Essex arrived in the capital on Sunday the 6th of November. He found the capital in a state of fear and despondency.
The King reached Colnbrook on the 9th of November. The next day, he received peace commissioners sent by parliament. The peace talks at Colnbrook made some progress. However, neither side proposed or agreed a ceasefire whilst the talks concluded.
Whilst the King remained at Colnbrook, he and his army remained vulnerable. They were hemmed in by Parliamentary forces at Windsor, Kingston, Acton and Brentford.
Urged by Prince Rupert, the King decided to improve his negotiating position by taking Brentford and its bridge. This was the last natural obstacle before Westminster and London.
The Battle of Brentford followed. The King’s army seized Brentford Bridge. It placed them within eight miles of Parliament at Westminster.
However, the parliamentary defenders of Brentford fought fiercely to stop the royalist advance. John Hampden and his green-coated Buckinghamshire regiment joined them as the day ended. Although defeated, their barricades on Brentford High Street had held out long enough for Essex to mobilise the capital.
Barges on the Thames – 13th November 1642
Early next morning, a number of barges attempted to pass Brentford on the Thames. They were carrying 2,000 reinforcements and munitions from Kingston to the Earl of Essex in London. John Gwyn describes the situation. “And at that very time were came a great recruit [reinforcement] of men to the enemy, both by land and water, from Windsor and Kingston.”
The royalist Colonel Blagge was stationed at Syon House after the battle with two cannons. He engaged and sank a number of these barges. At least one exploded. Ludlow was with Essex’s Lifeguard of Horse at Chelsea Fields. The noise of the explosion reached him downriver.
The Battle of Turnham Green – 13th November 1642
News of the royalist attack at Brentford provoked a swift response. Despite the tactical victory, the chance of strategic success was lost. Essex deployed his army to face the King’s advance on the capital. This included a sizeable artillery train parked ready at Knightsbridge.
Critically, the London trained bands also marched out from the city to join him. This was a separate army. Although an untested and part time militia, they were well equipped and relatively well drilled.
By 08:00 in the morning of Sunday 13th November 1642, 20,000 parliamentary horse and foot were in place. They ranged across Acton Common, Turnham Green and Chiswick Common Field.
Acton Common, Turnham Green & Chiswick Common Field in 1642
Acton Common and Turnham Green are now relatively small areas of green separated by urban sprawl. However, each was considerably larger in 1642. Acton Common stretched south from Acton Town along what is now Acton Lane. This broad open are of common grassland reached as far as Turnham Green.
In turn, Turnham Green ran south to Chiswick Common Field. This extended as far south as old Chiswick village and St Nicholas’ Church on the Thames. It includes what is now Chiswick House Gardens and Chiswick Old Cemetery. An etching by Hogarth gives a good impression of how Chiswick Common Field looked only a century later, in 1750.
Together, these commons formed the last open area west of London, a natural battlefield. The Great Road from Bristol to London crossed them. Today, this is the A4 Great West Road. In 1642, this was where Essex chose to stop the King and his army.
‘Come my Boys, my Brave Boys – let us pray heartily and fight heartily’
Both armies deployed with their foot regiments in the centre, horse and dragoons on the flanks. Essex chose to deploy the London trained bands interspersed between his own more experienced battalions. Bulstrode Whitelocke describes the parliamentary deployment.
“The whole army was drawn up in battalia in a common called Turnham Green, about a mile from Brentford … The other regiments of horse were placed on both wings, the foot of the army were in good plight, and well armed; and were placed in the body one regiment of them, and another of the city [trained] band, one by another, and some were left for reserves.”
However, doubts remained over whether the London trained bands would stand firm. Many of them were young apprentices. Sergeant Major General Phillip Skippon encouraged them with a supply of food brought out from the city and his immortal words.
“Come my boys, my brave boys, let us pray heartily and fight heartily, I will run the same fortunes and hazards with you. Remember the cause is God, and for the defence of your selves, your wives and children. Come my honest brave boys pray heartily and God will bless us.”
However, what was clear was that the King’s army was outnumbered. The parliamentary army outflanked the royalists, particularly to the north. Here, Rupert deployed musketeers in hedges to protect the King’s left flank.
Rupert’s charge, Hampden’s flank move & Essex’s cannon
Rupert is described as making several charges and “did lay about him like a fury”. He was shot at “a thousand times”, but not touched. His charges sent panic through the crowds of onlookers who had turned out to watch the battle.
However, the royalist army lacked the numbers to press home a serious concerted attack. For the most part, they appear to have stood in a defensive posture.
Essex did briefly press home his advantage on the northern edge of the battlefield. He forced the royalist musketeers from their hedges. A move to outflank the King and occupy higher ground towards Acton followed. This almost certainly included John Hampden and his green-coats. However, the order was countermanded and the parliamentary army remained relatively static throughout the day.
As the day drew to a close, the parliamentary cannon played more heavily on the royalists. It was clear that the King was not in a position to seize London.
The King’s Withdrawal – London saved
The King was outnumbered and short of ammunition. John Gwyn later explained.
“Nor can anything of a soldier or an impartial man say, that we might have advanced any further to the purpose of [advancing] towards London than we did … and withal considering that they were more than double our number; therefor the King withdrew.”
The King ordered a retreat. Prince Rupert sent 500 muskets to hold Brentford Bridge while the King’s army retreated over it. When the Prince arrived at the bridge, he found Sir Jacob Astley almost alone. The prince sat on his horse in the river until the army had passed.
However, the King’s orderly retreat dissuaded Essex from pressing an attack or pursuing. But the opportunity to seize London was lost. The war would not be over by Christmas.
More English Civil War historical notes & maps
I hope you found these notes on the Battle of Turnham Green in 1642 useful. You may also want to read notes on the Battle of Edgehill, the race from Edgehill to London and the Battle of Brentford. This site also includes articles on the Storming of Winchester and the Battle of Roundway Down in 1643.
If you are planning to visit the locations in these notes, please do also check out the resources on the Battlefields Hub. The Battlefields Trust, a volunteer organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting Britain’s battlefields, run this site. 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.
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