History Society Report

The Civil War comes to Cheshire 1642

On Thursday evening the members of, and the visitors to, Audlem and District History Society gathered for a detailed talk as to how the run-up and early stages of the Civil War impacted on Cheshire.

This was given by the Director of the English Civil War Centre at Nantwich Museum, Keith Lawrence, who is a regular speaker at our meetings. Keith began by explaining how, in fact, it was a very "uncivil" war, especially that conducted by Prince Rupert and his troops, who stripped the area clean of all its resources and damaged everything in their path. (Cromwell only managed to get as close as Warrington).
The war itself only really started in August 1642, but Keith explained a lot of the background to the build-up of hostilities, and sketched in many of the local characters who subsequently became involved in the conflict. People such as Sir William Brereton, who was in charge of the Parliamentary forces in Cheshire, and Sir Robert Needham of Shavington Park, Lord Kilmorey, who was a Royalist.
Keith then went on to describe the King's "muster" of troops via Shrewsbury & Chester, although at the outbreak of the Civil War, the vast majority of people (52%) considered themselves neutral, and supported neither side. The situation, as in all wars, became more complicated as time wore on, but Keith ably guided us through the maze, leading us to the end of 1642 and the subsequent Bunbury Agreement, whereby the fighting was to end in Cheshire & all prisoners to be released.

Keith's talk was illustrated by well-chosen source material and, without resorting to dealing solely with the military aspects of the Civil War, certainly gave us a refreshing approach to a well-documented story.

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