When King
Charles I was captured by the Parliamentarian army in 1647 and was sent off to
imprisonment on the Isle of Wight, most people thought the English Civil War
was over. In fact it was only a pause.
The Scots did
not like having their king locked up by the English Parliament, and many
English royalists had disbanded merely due to a shortage of supplies or money,
rather than a lack of fighting will or ability. Parliament had promised much
during the fighting, but was unable to deliver on many of these pledges when peace
came. People were unhappy and looked back to the years of peace before the war
with longing. The rule of Parliament and its army was becoming unpopular. When
one faction in Parliament fell out with the others, indecision and weakness
gripped the government. All that was needed was a spark.
That spark came
in March 1648. The garrison of Pembroke Castle had not been paid for months.
When a new commander arrived with a relief force, the garrison refused to come
out until they had been paid. Local royalist gentry promised that they would be
paid if they declared for the king, and they did. Within a few days all of
South Wales was in uproar. In April Scotland declared war on England in the
name of their imprisoned king and captured the border fortresses of Berwick and
Carlisle.
In Kent the
news that a major Scottish army was coming south was enough. Lord Goring, the
Earl of Norwich, announced in Canterbury that he was going to declare for the
king, and was at once swept along on a tide of enthusiasm. Within a week he
found himself at the head of an army of royalists. Another week later and
Norwich had 15,000 men under arms. Most of these men were experienced
campaigners who had seen action in earlier phases of the Civil War, but they
were not formed into regiments and the force lacked a command structure. If
Norwich had had time to marshal his forces he would have had a powerful and
potent army. But time was what Norwich did not have.
In the last
week of May, Norwich learned that one of Parliament’s most formidable soldiers,
Sir Thomas Fairfax, was marching from London. Even worse, Fairfax had with him
some 6,000 men of the New Model Army, a superbly trained body of men equipped
with the best weaponry money could buy. Norwich decided to defend the Medway, destroying
the bridge at Rochester and placing garrisons at Maidstone and Aylesford, where
other main roads crossed the river.
On 30 May
Fairfax arrived at Rochester. He took one look at the broken bridge and the
defence, then turned and marched away. Norwich guessed that Fairfax would try
Aylesford next. He was wrong. Fairfax was marching on Maidstone.
The Walk
1) In Maidstone
cross to the west bank of the Medway where the A20 heads west.
It was from
here that Fairfax looked across to Maidstone around noon on 1 June 1648. The
town he saw was of middling size and lacked any type of modern fortifications
or defence. However the bridge that stood here in 1648 had been broken down by
the Royalists and the far bank was lined by enemy soldiers.
Fairfax left a
small group of cavalry here to watch the town’s defenders, then rode off to
where he had sent the bulk of his army: East Farleigh three miles upstream
along the Medway.
2) Cross over
the bridge to the east bank. Turn right to follow the riverside path to find a
modern footbridge that crosses the Medway beside All Saints Church. The church
is the oldest in the town and worth a visit. Cross the footbridge, then turn
left along the Medway Valley Walk along the banks of the river. At first the
path runs through housing areas of Maidstone, none of which were here in 1648,
but it soon leaves the built up area behind and runs along the north bank of
the river as it winds through orchards and open fields. After a distance of
almost three miles the path passes under an ancient stone bridge at East
Farleigh. Just past the bridge, turn right between two wooden fences then right
again to meet the raod beside the railway station. Turn right to reach the
bridge over the Medway.
Although
Norwich knew of this bridge, he did not consider it a serious objective for
Fairfax. It was too narrow to allow the passage of siege guns and heavier
transport wagons. But Fairfax was not intending to get his supply train over
the river here, just the fighting men of his army. Each man had enough food
with him to last a couple of days without the supply train, and tough
battle-hardened soldiers could sleep in the open if necessary for a few days.
At just past
noon, Fairfax gave the order to attack. Horsemen and dragoons splashed over the
river, supported by gunfire from the north bank. The small royalist outpost
here was quickly driven back, allowing the long columns of infantry to start
streaming over the bridge. It took time to get the thousands of men over the
narrow bridge, but by about 4pm Fairfax had his army on the south bank of the
Medway. They formed up and began the advance on Maidstone.
3) From the
bridge walk south up Station Road to the parish church. Turn left into Lower
Road, the B2010 and head east. You will have an orchard on your right and the
houses of East Farleigh on your left. After 300 yards the road leaves East
Farleigh – and leaves behind the footpath so that it is necessary to walk
on the road for the next half mile or so. Care should be taken as this is a
busy road. Eventually the road reaches another cluster of houses. This is
Tovil, now a suburb of Maidstone but in 1648 a separate little hamlet. Look out
for the turning Burial Ground Lane on the left.
As he advanced,
Fairfax sent a party of dragoons up this lane to occupy Tovil and drive out any
Royalists that might be skulking there. They met with no opposition and rode
through the village to rejoin the main body of their army.
4) If you wish
turn left up Burial Ground Lane to follow the route of the dragoons through the
what was then a little village and then on along Church Road. Alternatively
continue straight up the B2010, now called Farleigh Hill. Whichever route is
taken, continue along the B2010 as it passes through increasingly built up areas
of southern Maidstone, all of which were open fields in 1648. At the junction
with the A229 turn left. Walk north along the main road, past the junction with
another main road, Wat Tyler Road, on the right to where Palace Avenue runs off
right beside a stream.
This stream
formed the southern boundary of Maidstone in 1648. The royalists had spent the
afternoon erecting barricades and other obstacles along the north bank of the
stream. When Fairfax and his men arrived they found themselves facing entrenchments,
sharpened stakes and other hastily erected defences, behind which were formed
up hundreds of royalist musketeers and pikemen.
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