Summary
The site of the Battle of Winwick on 19 August 1648, which ended the Second English Civil War as a military contest.
Reasons for Designation
The Battle of Winwick (also known as the Battle of Winwick Pass and the Battle of Red Bank), fought in 1648, is included on the Register of Historic Battlefields for the following principal reasons:
* Historic importance: for its national historical significance as the last battle of the Second English Civil War, securing the advantages gained at Preston two days previously and resulting in the complete disbanding of the royalist infantry;
* Topographical integrity: retaining substantial integrity despite some later development, with the defensive and attacking positions of the opposing armies and the majority of the topographical character pertinent to the course of the battle still clearly legible in the landscape;
* Archaeological potential: possessing substantial overall archaeological potential as the only English battlefield of the Second Civil War which remains in a good state of preservation.
History
SOURCES
Three accounts of the battle itself are known from men who were present. Two were written almost immediately; by Major John Sanderson (a parliamentary officer) and the parliamentary commander Oliver Cromwell, whose letters to Parliament just a few days later were published by George Ormerod in 1844. Captain John Hodgson was a parliamentarian soldier whose memoirs were written in 1683 and published in 1806 with the memoirs of Sir Henry Slingsby. Major Edward Robinson (a parliamentarian soldier) was not at Winwick but was ordered to stay at Preston after the battle there, and can be assumed to have had good accounts soon afterwards, although his account of the Civil Wars in Lancashire was probably transcribed after the Restoration, and published in 1864. James Heath (a royalist author whose account was first written in 1661), identified the ‘place called Red-bank’ between Wigan and Warrington (Heath, 1676). The Ordnance Survey has, since the 1849 1:10,560 map, named Red Bank and marked the battle in the fields to the south of Hermitage Green Lane and the east of the A49. This corresponds with the field names in the Tithe survey for Winwick, which include several ‘Scotch fields’ and ‘butch crow’.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Civil Wars of the mid-C17 were a reflection of profound political, constitutional, religious and social conflict that was expressed in a struggle for control between King and Parliament. During the Second Civil War, royalist forces had been recruited in the north of England and they, along with a substantial Scottish force commanded by the Duke of Hamilton, marched south with the ultimate aim of restoring Charles I to the throne.
Elements of these forces were defeated at Preston on 17 August 1648, but perhaps 7,000 infantry and 4,000 mounted troops marched southwards in retreat. They were pursued from Preston by elements of the parliamentarian New Model Army, under the command of Oliver Cromwell, numbering around 6,000 infantry and 2,500 mounted troops. However, having marched far and fast to get to Preston, Cromwell did not begin the pursuit until the day after the battle. With ground made boggy and streams swollen by a miserably wet summer, his progress was slow, with only his advance guard able to harry the royalists. Just north of Wigan they made as if to stand and fight, before retiring to the town where they spent the night of 18 August and plundered the town despite its normally royalist sympathies. The march and skirmishing led to casualties, capture and desertion, and the royalist foot (mainly Scots under General Baillie) probably numbered between 4,000 and 6,000 when they retired from Wigan, and made a stand at Winwick on 19 August.
The royalist horse continued to Warrington, three miles to the south, which at the time was the only crossing of the Mersey for ten miles in either direction suitable for an army. It was intended for the foot to follow after a holding action, and then to cross the bridge with the protection of the horse and hold Cromwell’s army at the bridge. This would allow the main force to continue south out of Cromwell’s reach and unite with comrades raised in north Wales. However, the horse crossed the river on arrival. This splitting of the force left the fate of the whole invasion in the hands of the Scottish infantry at Winwick, for without them, and with less recruiting success in Wales than envisaged, the royalists had no hope of further gains.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MILITARY ACTION
The battle comprised an initial stand by several regiments of royalists followed by a fighting retreat/pursuit. The Scots chose for their stand a place called Red Bank, where the road from Wigan to Warrington crossed the marshy valley of a tributary of the Newton brook, and passed through a high sandstone bank along part of the southern edge of the valley. The spot lies approximately half a mile to the north-west of the centre of Winwick. The denouement took place to the north of St Oswald’s church, where the Scots, having retreated across the intervening ground, were surrounded.
Cannon balls now in Warrington museum are said to have come from the battlefield, and are probably from easily-transportable frame guns as Cromwell is not thought to have had any heavy artillery. No doubt musket shots were also exchanged across the valley, where each army spread out, probably mainly on the higher ground to the east of the road, while close-quarter fighting took place along the road itself, close to the narrow pass. Heath records that,
'in a narrow lane, they made a stand with a Body of Pikes, and lined the hedges with muskets, who so rudely entertained the pursuing enemy, that they were compelled to stop (having lost abundance of men, and Col Thornhill himself) until the coming up of Col Pride's regiment of foot, who after a sharp dispute put those brave fellows to the run: they were commanded by a little spark in a blew bonnet, that performed the part of an excellent commander, and was killed on the place. After this, they never turned head, but ran, crying, mercy, mercy, (so that the noise thereof was heard at 5 miles distance) until they came to Warrington-Bridge, where Baily made conditions for quarter, and rendred himself and 4,000 of them prisoners.' (Heath, 1676)
Hodgson records that as Cromwell’s vanguard (forlorn hope) approached the pass, the Scots, 'snaffled our forlorn and put them to retreat' (Slingsby, 1806). Cromwell’s own account reads,
'the enemy made a stand at a passe near Winwicke. We held them in some dispute till our army came up, they maintaining the passe with great resolution for many hours, ours and theirs coming to push of pike and very close charges, and forced us to give ground, but our men, by the blessing of God, quickly recovered it, and charging very home upon them, beat them from their standing, where we killed about a thousand of them, and tooke (as we believe) about two thousand prisoners, and prosecuted them home to Warrington town…..As soon as we came thither I received a message from Lieutenant-General Baily, desiring some capitulation to which I yielded…..and the commissioners deputed by me have received, and are receiving…about foure thousand compleat Armes, and as many prisoners, and thus you have their infantry totally ruined.' (Ormerod, 1844).
Hodgson claims that 4,000 to 5,000 prisoners were put under guard in Winwick church, although Sanderson estimates it as closer to 1,500.
The initial engagement (Cromwell’s ‘some dispute’) lasted around three to four hours, while his main army caught up with the vanguard. Maj Robinson states that local information assisted Cromwell (probably headquartered at the Lodge where Newton Park farm now stands) in discovering a route around the right flank of the Scots. This would have bypassed the Coppice Wood brook which ran southwards from Newton Park and constrained Cromwell’s eastern flank. When the main army arrived, Col Pride’s regiment of foot was ordered forward, while Hodgson says that the parliamentarians were 'drawn up, horse and foot, to give them a charge', presumably a frontal assault. He also says that a body of royalist horse appeared, 'on the muir [moor], from Warrington bridge' (Slingsby, 1806), but that the Scots’ retreat began before they became engaged. However, by this time all of the royalist horse is thought to have crossed the Mersey. It may be that he actually saw his own side's cavalry, who may have used the route mentioned by Robinson, and whose appearance would better explain the capitulation which ensued. Maj Sanderson says that the Scots ran and that four cavalry troops (approximately 320 horses) careered up to Winwick and got in front of the fleeing Scots, resulting in hundreds of deaths in the fields and town.
The Scots' flight south led to, 'that little Greene place of ground short of Winwick Church and there they [the New Model Army] made a great slaughter of them' (Robinson, 1864). Those who made it to Warrington found no reinforcements. The surrender of the entire infantry force later that day effectively ended the invasion and decided the military outcome of the Second Civil War by rendering impossible any relief of the besieged royalist strongholds. Sanderson records that all the highways, corn fields, meadows, woods and ditches were strewn with the dead all the way from Wigan to Warrington (as well as further north as a result of earlier battles). Those prisoners who had served voluntarily were transported as slaves to the New World, and when there was no more demand from there, to Venice, where they probably served in galleys.
The battle established the military supremacy of the parliamentarian cause, but also increased the power of the army over Parliament itself, eventually leading to Pride’s purge, which tipped the balance of power in favour of those who supported putting the King on trial. Effectively a defeat of Scotland by England, it also dispensed with the King’s major objection to the terms presented to him by parliament in 1647; that he could not agree terms with one half of the union, to which the other half objected. Further objection appeared intransigent.
SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT
Although Hodgson calls the surroundings moorland, there was probably some rough grazing, and the land was enclosed with hedges at the roadside at least, but it has been improved since the C17. Sanderson says that the battle took place at a wood, probably referring to the trees found in the brook valleys. New Hey farm is named on Yates’s map of 1786 but probably post-dates the battle. C19 maps show a cotton mill and mill race to the west of the A49, north of the Newton brook, and this area was later developed for Red Bank farm. The railway has been built here and various modern housing built between it and the road. Ogilby’s map of 1675 shows a more-or-less straight road from Winwick to Newton, and the modern A49 probably follows the same route as the road in 1648, although minor changes were made to the north of the site of the battle in the early C19. The road has also been raised on a bank through which St Oswald’s (Hermitage) brook is now culverted. The ground to the north of the church, which in 1648 probably comprised small town fields, was occupied by 1847 by schools and a house called Winwick Cottage, and now hosts nearly 40 houses and a cemetery. The site of Winwick Hall has also been developed, initially for a county mental hospital, and more recently as a housing estate, and has been excluded from the registration.
In the late C18, the brook to the east of the A49 sprang from close to Newton Park farm (which probably served as Cromwell’s headquarters, and where there is still a barn which may have been standing at the time), running southwards as Coppice Wood brook before turning west towards the road; this was probably its line at the time of the battle. By the late C19 however, probably as a result of drainage and land improvement, the northern stretch was visible on Ordnance Survey maps only as a line of trees, the east-west section now fed from further east near St Oswald’s well. In the second half of the C20, colliery sidings were laid along the former line of the Coppice Wood brook, colliery buildings were erected between Newton Park farm and the battlefield, and tipping of coal waste raised the ground level to the east, steepening the northern bank of St Oswald’s brook, which was widened. The fields nearer the A49 may have been scarped, with new soil later brought in to reinstate them.
Details
TOPOGRAPHY
The battlefield is located three miles north of Warrington on the A49 between Winwick and Newton-le-Willows. The majority of the battlefield is still agricultural land with gently-sloping fields now under plough and pasture to either side of the A49.
To the north of the Newton brook and to the west of the A49 there remains some undeveloped land from which the fall towards the Newton brook, the promontory formed by the loop in the brook, and the barrier posed by the Red Bank itself can be appreciated as the stone bank remains clearly visible on the south side of Hermitage Green Lane and of the track to New Hey farm. This would have presented a formidable obstacle to the attacking parliamentarians and partly suggests why this spot was chosen as the place for a holding fight, especially when combined with the marshy ground and full watercourses to the west and east of the road.
To the east, the probable parliamentarian headquarters at Newton Park farm are now separated from the battlefield by former colliery development, but the relatively flat, reinstated south-western parts of the former colliery offer views across the valley of St Oswald’s brook to the rising southern slope of the valley, Hermitage Green Lane and the stone bank. This area would be the natural choice for mustering the parliamentarian troops out of range of enemy fire, and deploying firearms along the valley to engage with the royalists. Further east, the colliery tip overlies the C17 landscape, but the flatter ground to the south of this may have been the route taken by cavalry to outflank the Scots and remains little-developed.
South of the line of the stone bank, the land rises slightly (to the west) from the A573, then falls gently before rising once more towards the A49 and onward towards Cop Holt farm. This would have screened any cavalry advance from the main royalist force deployed along the stone bank, and also funnelled the royalist retreat within a relatively narrow corridor to either side of the A49. The ground also rises slightly immediately behind the stone bank, giving the Scots an additional advantage at the time of initial engagement. From this slight ridge however, it falls gently towards Winwick, where the two roads meet just to the south of the church, making this the natural focus of the retreat.
To the west of the A49 here, the former park of Winwick Hall has been comprehensively redeveloped and is no longer legible, but the rising ground further north, between the road and Cop Holt farm, remains largely open. The way in which the land falls away to the west of the farm might have encouraged dispersed retreat by those who made it past this ridge, but the Newton brook would have formed a barrier to this, particularly in a notably wet summer. Areas of woodland and ponds, some of which can still be found here, would offer opportunities for concealment.
FEATURES
The landscape in 2017 still holds some features of historical interest related to the battle. The Newton and St Oswald’s brooks are the most obvious, particularly the wooded valley of the latter. Although slightly altered to run on a more substantial bank, the A49 is the main built feature of the battlefield, as this was the route of the Scots’ retreat from Preston and the fighting was focussed around it. Then as now, it was lined with hedges. Similarly, the A573 to the east of the battlefield forms a natural eastern boundary and might even have been used by cavalry to outflank the Scots, particularly after the retreat had begun. The spire of St Oswald’s church, where the denouement of the battle and subsequent quartering of prisoners took place, is visible from several locations on the battlefield. The northern face of the tower bears impact scars, probably from musket balls, although it is possible that these relate to a skirmish in 1643. The modern electricity pylons are an intrusion. Cop Holt farm might be marked on Yates’s map of 1786 although it is not named on a map until Greenwood’s of 1818, and it is thought that this was the royalist headquarters. The current farmhouse might be that shown on the 1849 1:10,560 Ordnance Survey map, and might retain older fabric, although if not replaced since the battle it has been substantially altered.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL
Enough of the battlefield survives undeveloped to suggest that there is potential for archaeological evidence to contribute further to an understanding of the events of 1648, if analysed in conjunction with documentary evidence. Like others of the period the battlefield will certainly have surviving artefacts, in particular shot from the various firearms used. Despite some reported widening the marshy valleys also offer good potential survival of organic material.
Winwick is the only battlefield from the English Second Civil War which appears to survive in a good state of preservation. Thus the site should be understandable and have a high research potential as the battle archaeology is likely to be reasonably intact. Given the relatively straightforward nature of the action the battlefield might, for example, provide information about the character of the archaeological record created by the small arms and artillery then in use by the New Model Army, or the nature of any firefights and other tactical developments during the battle, such as the use of the streams and sandstone banks as defensive lines. There are reports of metal-detecting having taken place on the battlefield and it may be the case that local detectorists would be willing to offer the results of their surveys. The battlefield provides an exciting opportunity for research based on systematic metal-detecting surveys. In 2017 archaeological investigation of much of that part of the battlefield lying within the former colliery site found no battlefield archaeology, probably due to replacement of the soil.
DEFINITION OF AREAS
The registered area is set out on the attached plan. As is standard practice with the Battlefield Register, the area is drawn to follow modern boundaries wherever possible. The boundary has been drawn to exclude, as far as possible, areas of later development.
The northern part of the battlefield includes the location of the engagement between the two forces, and their probable lines along the northern and southern edge of the valleys of the Newton and St Oswald’s brooks. Here the boundary mainly follows modern property boundaries and the boundary between St Helen’s and Warrington.
The eastern boundary is formed by the western edge of the A573 (Golborne Road). This area includes the probable route of the parliamentarian cavalry during its flanking manoeuvre.
The southern end of the battlefield is largely defined by the churchyard, which is included. On the west side, north of the churchyard, the A49 is once again included, with the north side of Hollins Lane forming the southern boundary as far as the footpath called Ladies’ Walk. From there it follows the field boundaries in a roughly northerly direction, including Asps wood, the track to Cop Holt farm and the farmstead. This area includes the reputed royalist headquarters and is where the flight of the royalist forces took place towards the church, and many of their casualties occurred.
From Cop Holt farm it follows field boundaries to exclude New Hey farm, before crossing the track to the farm and the Newton brook, to include the promontory formed by the easternmost meander of the brook. This area includes the probable left flank of the royalist army.
