The Build-up to the Battle of Sourton Down, 1643

By the spring of 1643 the two sides in England’s Civil War had each secured for themselves a part of the kingdom, money and men. It was clearly going to be a bloody and protracted war. King Charles decided that his most immediate aim should be to establish secure links between those parts of the country that had declared themselves loyal to himself. To this end Sir Ralph Hopton in command of the Royalist forces in the southwest was ordered to march towards Bristol, then held by Parliament, to capture the city and so establish a link to the Royalist areas of Wales and the Marches.

Although Parliament had little support in the Southwest, they did hold the key towns and Royalist commander, Sir Ralph Hopton, was understandably reluctant to march out of his home area leaving active enemy forces in his rear. Having first made sure that all enemy strongholds were securely invested by local forces, Hopton moved against the main Parliamentarian army in the Southwest, 2,500 men under Colonel James Chudleigh. The two armies met outside Launceston and Hopton won a convincing victory that sent Chudleigh and his men retreating east to Okehampton.

Hopton was, for once, badly served by his scouts who assured him on the morning of 25 April 1643 that Chudleigh was continuing to retreat back towards Bristol. In fact he had halted in Okehampton having learned that the Earl of Stamford was coming to support him with an army of 3,000 men.

At noon the Royalists paused to eat lunch near Rexon, then pushed on. Hopton was hoping to reach Okehampton, which he fondly believed to be deserted by the enemy, by nightfall. He was, as a result, moving more quickly than was wise in the presence of the enemy. By early evening the Royalist vanguard, made up of a regiment of Cornish infantry, had marched over Prewley Moor and was approaching Sourton Down. The wind was getting up and storm clouds hung low over Dartmoor to the south.

Chudleigh, for his part, knew exactly where Hopton and his men were. He ordered his infantry to draw up just southwest of Okehampton, then led his cavalry and dragoons toward Hopton, looking for a site suitable to lay an ambush. He chose South Down, the highest hill of Sourton Down. He was unwilling to risk his entire force in combat so soon after his defeat at Launceston and so left his infantry where they were to await his orders to advance or retreat depending on what happened.