Reasons for Designation
Easthamstead Plain, the heathland plateau between Bracknell and Crowthorne, in
1792 was the scene of large scale military manoeuvres which have left an
unusual combination of physical traces, and which appear to be unique in
England. The exercises were designed to allow the Army to test its new
Handbook of Military Manoeuvres, whilst sending signals of strength to
continental Europe in the aftermath of the French Revolution. They boosted
morale in an Army still shocked by its defeat at the hands of revolutionaries
in the American War of Independence, and demonstrated the Crown's ability to
maintain order in the event of any Republican unrest in Britain.
The manoeuvres lasted from 23 July to 8 August 1792. They adopted the strategy
of building infantry or artillery redoubts as part of defensive lines behind
which infantry squares and cavalry could be deployed. In essence, this was the
strategy later used successfully by Wellington, notably at Waterloo. At
Easthamstead Plain, the Army practised attacking a defensive line including
eight specially constructed earthwork redoubts. The surviving redoubts are the
only documented examples in England of a full battlefield defensive system of
the Napoleonic period, equivalent in significance to the slightly later Royal
Military Canal in Kent which was built to oppose the anticipated French
invasion. They are therefore all considered to be of national importance and
worthy of protection.
Details
The monument includes one of a series of practice redoubts, constructed in
1792, in a 2km long line running north west-east along the edge of a
plateau formerly known as Easthamstead Plain. The redoubt lies on the summit
of Wagbullock Hill and is connected with a series of later trenches which
originally enclosed the whole hill top.
The redoubt includes an earthen bank and ditch forming a military fieldwork
measuring 46m across and roughly square in plan. It is enclosed by an open
ditch measuring up to 2m wide and roughly 1m deep, although now partly
infilled with leaf litter. Immediately inside the ditch stands a low earthen
bank 1m high externally and 0.5m high internally.
The trenches are a later feature, probably associated with troop training
during the Boer War and consist of a single line of hand dug trenches with the
earth thrown up to form a slight rampart on the outside (down slope). They are
now partly infilled but measure between 0.75m and 1.5m wide, and were
originally up to 1m deep. The ramparts are no longer visible along the entire
circuit, but where they survive these measure about 0.6m high and 0.7m wide.
The site also shows evidence of more recent fox holes as well as the reuse of
some of the features during training associated with World Wars I and II.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
28180
Legacy System:
RSM
End of official list entry
