Evidence of the English Civil War declared on HS2 rail line
Evidence of the brutal opening exchanges of the English Civil War appears to have been uncovered by HS2 archaeologists ahead of the advancing rail line.
Around 200 impact marks from pistol shots were discovered on a heavily fortified medieval gatehouse of Coleshill Manor in Warwickshire. Records of the bloody and bitter nine-year 17th-century conflict between the Cavaliers (Royalists) and Roundheads (Parliamentarians) are confined to major battles, so many details of events are unknown.
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But Professor Alice Roberts, historian and presenter of BBC show Digging For Britain, said: “The discovery of the medieval gatehouse at Coleshill was quite unexpected.
“I was amazed at just how much of the monumental stone building – with its two great octagonal towers – had survived below the ground.
“The front of the gatehouse was pockmarked and had clearly been shot at with muskets – perhaps for target practice. But there’s also an intriguing possibility that we’re looking at evidence of the earliest skirmish of the Civil War.”
More than 40 musket balls were found in nearby soil, further suggesting a confrontation took place.
And the first recorded conflict of the Civil War was the Battle of Curdworth Bridge in 1642, a short distance away.
Stuart Pierson, archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, commissioned to carry out excavations for HS2, described the discoveries as “extraordinary”.
His team’s work will feature on tomorrow’s programme on BBC Two.
He added: “These findings – not recorded in historical records – would have been lost to time had it not been for the expertise and hard work of the team.”
Coleshill Manor, next to a bridge over the River Cole, was in the hands of Royalist Simon Digby as the Civil War approached.
It would have been a strategic position that Parliamentarians, commanded by Oliver Cromwell, would have wanted to control and experts believe they would have passed close by on their way to Curdworth Bridge.
More than 100 archaeological sites have been examined on the route of phase one of HS2’s link between London and Birmingham.
Finds include a Roman settlement in south Northamptonshire.
- Digging for Britain is on BBC Two tomorrow at 8pm.
