The Bridge at Cropredy was first built in 1312 and carries a road into a village of the same name beside the upper reaches of the River Cherwell. A new bridge was erected in the 1930's.

The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was the last battle won on English soil under the command of an English King. It was a battle of the English Civil Wars fought on 29 June 1644 by a detachment of the Parliamentary army under Sir William Waller and the Royalist army of King Charles. At this stage in the long conflict it seemed as though a decisive Parliamentary victory was near at hand.

Background

Earlier, on the 24th of June Sir William Waller had marched from Gloucester to Stow on the Wold where he received intelligence that the King was marching eastward and soon received orders to pursue him. By June 27th Waller had reached Hanwell Castle on high ground to the west of the River Cherwell, the King being just five miles away in Edgecote. It was nightfall by the time the King had resolved to offer battle, giving orders to march in Waller’s direction.

Battle

It was on a Saturday, June the 29th, and Waller's forces proceeded to shadow the kings movements on the other side of the river Cherwell, the two armies faced one other across the river, neither committing to cross under the fire of enemy guns. They marched on, little more than a mile apart.

The king received a warning that 300 additional horsemen were approaching from the north to join Waller’s army, so Charles ordered a small detachment of dragoons under Lord Brentford, the Royalist Commander in Chief forward to hold the bridge at Cropredy against Waller's reinforcements. This movement caused a clear gap in the column to develop ahead of the King's straggling rearguard.

About a mile to the South lay the river crossing of Slat Mill Ford. Waller seing his opportunity sent Lieutenant General John Middleton to cross the bridge with two regiments of horse and nine companies of foot, Waller himself commanding 1000 men crossed the ford intending to catch the Royalist rear in a pincer movement.

Cropredy Bridge was held by the king's dragoons, but these were soon overpowered by Middleton's dragoons who collided with the main body of the Royalist force, during which time the King became alerted to the fact that he had left his rearguard exposed.

Waller’s initiative met with some success until the young Earl of Northampton forced the Parliamentary troops back across the ford, but the dragoons guarding the bridge had to concede control of the bridge to the Roundheads.

Charles was most fortunate in having two highly capable commanders at the rear of his army. At Slat Mill, the young Earl of Northampton, not twenty years of age, reacted with a swift charge, driving Waller's force back across the river Cherwell.

Col. Ralph Weldon's Kentish Regiment of foot and Tower Hamlets regiments managed to secure the bridge keeping the Royalist army clear of it for the rest of the day.

Waller's artillery continued to fire from there vantage point on Bourton hill forcing the Cavaliers to retreat further away from the river.

Nevertheless, the King’s hundred loyal Lifeguards under Lord Bernard, drove the Parliamentary forces back a second time and proceeded to clear the Roundheads back over Cropredy Bridge, and in so doing were able to capture Wallers entire battery of eleven guns. Waller retreated in the face of this misfortune.

Aftermath

By the following evening, the two armies still faced each other across the river Cherwell. Charles took opportunity in the lull to dispatch his Secretary of War, being Sir Edward Walker, to parly with Waller, sending a message of grace and pardon, but the Parliamentarian replied that he had no power to treaty.

At length, after receiving further intelligence of additional Parliamentarians nearby, and as the king's train was low in food and supplies the Royalists slipped away under the cover of night, taking Waller's guns with them. While the Royalists had suffered casualties, Waller had lost 700 men, many having deserted after the battle.

Although Sir William Waller had lost the initiative, the King was unwilling to risk forcing a passage across the river and the affray ended in a something of a stalemate.

External links

• The English Civil War