Siege of Devizes 1643 – Devizes Arts Festival walk

The Siege of Devizes 1643 – the Devizes Arts Festival 2025 walk. Author Charles Cordell will lead a guided battlefield walk of the key sites and events of 9-13 July 1643. The walk will explore how the English Civil War hung in the balance on the bed cords of Devizes. It will explain Prince Maurice’s breakout, the Parliamentary bombardment and assault. Last but not least, Charles Cordell will discuss the final relief at the Battle of Roundway Down.

Devizes Arts Festival 2025 – the festival walk

The meeting point for the Siege of Devizes walk will be at St Jame’s Church, on the Green, at 10:00, on Sunday 15 June. The walk will aim to end at the Market Place at approximately 12:00 with an opportunity for further discussion in a nearby inn.

To join the Devizes Arts Festival 2025 walk please check details on the Devizes Arts Festival 2025 events page. You can book places online and/or visit the ticket office in person at Devizes Books. If you can make it, do sign up and join the discussion.

If desired, but not necessary, background reading is available on this website at: English Civil War Notes and Maps. This includes articles on The General Crisis of the 17th Century, the English Revolution and the Siege of Devizes in 1643.

Devizes in Civil War fiction – Devizes Arts Festival author talk

As well as the festival walk, Charles Cordell will be giving an author talk during Devizes Arts Festival 2025. He will be talking about Divided Kingdom book #2 – The Keys of Hell and Death – and Devizes in Civil War fiction. He will describe the background to his books and the exploits of the Western Army of 1643. Q&A and a book signing will follow the talk on Saturday 14 June.

Charles Cordell is the author of English Civil War historical fiction series Divided Kingdom. His writing has received praise and editorial reviews from The Times. The likes of Ben Kane (bestselling author), David Gilman (award winning author), Professor Ronald Hutton CBE (TV historian) and others have given their endorsements.

Divided Kingdom book #2 – The Keys of Hell and Death – follows the Western campaign of 1643. The story opens with the brutal Battle of Lansdown Hill. Its characters – ordinary men and women – face each other and the terrible reality of war. They must survive the Siege of Devizes, the Battle of Roundway Down and the ferocious 1643 Storming of Bristol.

If you can’t make these events, copies of Charles Cordell’s books are available from Waterstones, Foyles and good independent bookshops, including Devizes Books. They are also available online from Amazon, Bookshop.org and Booktopia. Please do check out the book pages for reviews and links at Charles Cordell Books. You can also loan copies from UK libraries, including Wiltshire Libraries.

More Author Talks, Book Signings & Battlefield Walks

For more author talks, signings and battlefield walks with Charles Cordell, please check out Charles Cordell Events.

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