The Winceby Battlefield Walk

Richard Hardy

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It's October 11th 1643, the long 'Royalist Summer' is coming to a close. All across England King Charles' cause is in the ascendancy. In The West Country, William Waller's Parliamentarian Army has been defeated at Roundway Down, across the Midlands only the Earl of Essex's masterful relief of Gloucester has retained Parliament's position and the whole of the North with the exception of the port of Kingston-upon-Hull has been cleared for the King. If the army of the Earl of Manchester can be cleared from the south bank of the Humber then Hull will fall and the Northern Royalists will be free to march south and end the war in 1644.

Marching from newly captured Lincoln, the Royalists moved to engage Manchester, who was then besieging Bolingbroke Castle. At Winceby the Royalist Cavalry met the mounted troops of Manchester's Army, his best troops and two men whose names would become synonymous with victory, Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.

Winceby is a little-known battle in English history and yet it was pivotal to the outcome of the Civil War. Just like El Alamein or Stalingrad, it marks the high point of the eventual losing side. Victory at Winceby could have changed the outcome of the war for the Royalists.

The opening up of Snipe Dales Country Park and Nature Reserve means that much of this walk can now be done off-road, with the beautiful countryside of the Lincolnshire Wolds all around you and some fantastic views. Come and take a lovely walk through history.

Due to access restrictions for dogs in the nature reserve, this is not a walk on which you can take your dog.

England - East England - Lincolnshire - Lincolnshire Wolds