‘Forgotten’ English Civil War memorials rescued from obscurity with new database

Hundreds of “forgotten” memorials for English civil war soldiers have been rescued from obscurity thanks to a new online database detailing the 17th century conflict between Roundheads and Cavaliers.

The free-to-use database – the first of its kind – describes 244 monuments, plaques, stained glass windows and other relics linked to rank-and-file troops who died in battles and sieges as well as better known military and political figures of the period.

They range from the death mask of a hanged Roundhead spy at a Costa Coffee branch in Worcester – scene of the last civil war battle in 1651 – to the badly weathered gravestone of a Scottish royalist captain who died at the battle of Edgehill in Warwickshire, nine years earlier at the start of the conflict.

Others sites include what is believed to be the mass grave of 247 soldiers killed in a battle near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire in 1642.

An estimated 200,000 lives were lost in the civil war that divided families and friends. But experts believe the impact on the country and its population is often overlooked, with many memorials and monuments in a bad state of repair.

Grim toll

Simon Marsh, research coordinator at the Battlefields Trust, which helped compile the memorials guide, said: “Almost every community was affected, either directly by death on the battlefield, or by disease and starvation.

“Despite its grim toll, no monuments or memorials have ever been erected to the collective memory of those who died, in marked contrast to later conflicts.

“At the end of the civil wars, every effort was made to ensure that they were forgotten as soon as possible, with pardons for most. Yet anyone walking the streets of Britain today may encounter monuments or markers that provide a direct link to the people, places and events of the civil wars.”

The database was put together by historians from groups including the Cromwell Association and the Pike and Shot Society. It will be launched at the National Civil War Centre in Newark, Nottinghamshire on Oct 25.

Mr Marsh hopes documenting the memorials will help safeguard them for future generations. He said: “Ranging from 17th-century memorials and 19th-century monuments to some of the major players, to stained-glass windows, plaques and more recent interpretation panels at noteworthy locations, the guide allows users to search by memorial type, civil war allegiance or location.”