The first Battle of Newbury took place on 20 September1643 between Parliamentary forces under Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, and royalist forces under King Charles in person, accompanied by Prince Rupert and Sir Jacob Astley. The two sides were fairly evenly matched; Charles had about 8,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry while Essex had 10,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. Both sides had about 20 artillery pieces.
Although the royalists had arrived at Newbury ahead of the Parliamentarians, Essex made better use of the ground, securing positions on a hill overlooking the battlefield. While the royalists succeeded in routing the Parliamentarian cavalry, they were unable to dislodge the infantry from their positions on the hill.
The battle was fought throughout the day, becoming a gruelling stalemate in which neither side won a clear advantage. King Charles, appalled at the bloodshed, rejected his advisors' suggestions that the battle should be continued into a second day and withdrew his forces to Oxford. The two sides had lost about 3,500 men between them but the royalists had come off worst. The Earl of Carnarvon and the Earl of Sunderland had both been killed in the fighting. Most dismayingly of all for the king, Viscount Falkland, his Secretary of State, had effectively committed suicide by riding deliberately to his death in apparent despair at the horror of the civil war.
Second Battle of Newbury
The second Battle of Newbury was fought on 27 October1644, rematching the armies of King Charles and the Earl of Essex. Charles had deployed defensively north of Newbury, hoping that the Parliamentarians would not engage his forces and so allow Prince Rupert to join him. The Parliamentary forces, commanded by Sir William Waller and the Earl of Manchester, attempted to trap the royalist forces in a pincer attack by attacking both sides of Charles' army simultaneously. The Parliamentary attacks were repulsed by the royalists with heavy losses on both sides. Charles realised that his position was untenable and withdrew towards Oxford during the night. The exhausted Parliamentary army was unable to block the royalist retreat and Charles was able to leave unmolested.
Newbury remained cushioned from recession, and large numbers of men arrived from across the south to seek work.
Newbury was used to royal visits, and in 1568 Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, was greeted by ringing bells, though rumour says she had come to secretly give birth to an illegitimate son at Hamstead Marshall.
Elsewhere, the first town hall was built in 1742, and in 1772, the wooden bridge in Northbrook Street was replaced by the stone one still in use today.
The firstBattle of Newbury took place on 20 September1643, in Enborne and Wash Common adjoining Newbury, between Parliamentary forces under Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and Royalist forces under King Charles in person, accompanied by Prince Rupert and Sir Jacob Astley.
The battle was fought throughout the day, becoming a gruelling stalemate in which neither side won a clear advantage.
King Charles, appalled at the bloodshed, rejected his advisors' suggestions that the battle should be continued into a second day and withdrew his forces to Oxford.
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