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Kineton Fight

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Edgeh ill Battlefield

The Battle of Edgehill, or Kineton Fight as it was some times known, was the first major battle of the Civil War. It took place on 23 October 1642. King Charles I had set out from Shrewsbury for London and the government sent Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, the Parliamentarian Lord General, to intercept him. The two armies, both 15,000 strong, met halfway and fought in open fieJds between the villages of Radway and Kineton in Warwicksh ire. This was intended to be the one great battle to decide the war. It started around 2 o’clock in the afternoon and went on until nightfall, but ended in an inconclu sive draw Around 1,000 men were killed and 2—3,000 Wounded The bodies were looted and left. The Earl of Essex withdrew to the garrison at Warwick and the Royalists were left in command of the road toLondon. Today the battlefield is largely agricultural land. Most is owned by the Ministry of Defence. A militai depot was built there in the late 1940s.
br> The site is believed to be one of the most haunted in Warwickshire. Just a month after the battle, local shepherds heard the sound of drums and then saw what they thought was another battle being fought, but suddenly the scene vanished into thin air. So many similar tales were reported that the printer Thomas Jackson published them in 1643. The king himself was intrigued and sent six senior statesmen to revisit the site. They too witnessed an eerie re-enactment of the battle and three of them recognized men they knew to be dead.

Sightings of the armies are less frequent now; but the thundering hooves of the cavalry charges and the cries of the wounded are still heard at night, particu larly around the anniversary of the battle. India | Italy | Naseby | Northumberland | Skye | Warwickshire |