{"id":239,"date":"2010-05-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=139"},"modified":"2011-01-24T16:31:06","modified_gmt":"2011-01-24T16:31:06","slug":"import139","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=239","title":{"rendered":"Edgehill, Warwickshire\/Oxfordshire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.onload = setupZoom; function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk;\nvar walkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=700,width=800,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script>First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Edgehill.gpx');\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4616130966_e51303a38b.jpg\" title=\"seedheads\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4616130966_e51303a38b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615514367_a8af2a36c0.jpg\" title=\"good view  over Hornton\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615514367_a8af2a36c0_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615515609_cc7874cdc7.jpg\" title=\"valley near Shenington\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615515609_cc7874cdc7_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615514829_ce5aab40b4.jpg\" title=\"Henry Kingsmill, Captain of Foot, 'Slaine by a Cannon Bullett'\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615514829_ce5aab40b4_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615515113_8d75bf6b6f.jpg\" title=\"Edgehill Castle\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615515113_8d75bf6b6f_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4616130000_3f0c2c6745.jpg\" title=\"view over Edgehill battlefield from Edgehill Castle\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4616130000_3f0c2c6745_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615516095_dae6ceb61d.jpg\" title=\"laid hedge, near Edgehill\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/images-global\/4615516095_dae6ceb61d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=239\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">On the afternoon of 23 October 1642 two nervous and inexperienced armies, each of about 15,000 men, faced each other at Edgehill on the Warwickshire\/Oxfordshire border. It was the first serious confrontation of the Civil War between Royalists and Parliamentarians. The Royalists occupied the great north-south ridge that dominates the Warwickshire plain where the Parliamentary army was deployed; but they forsook that advantage, descending the slope to fight it out in the fields below. By nightfall both sides were claiming victory in an inconclusive battle; a thousand men lay dead among the hedges and ditches, and three times that number were nursing wounds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">On a gale-tossed morning, looking out of my bedroom window in the Castle Inn on the edge of the escarpment, I was lord of a fifty-mile view, with the battlefield directly below. The fields where a thousand men died were striped with medieval ridge-and-furrow. The village of Radway, all golden stone and deep thatch, lay alongside the killing grounds. In the church I found the effigy of a Royalist officer in curly wig and knee-coat: Henry Kingsmill, Captain of Foot, &lsquo;unhappily slaine by a Cannon Bullett.&rsquo; His grieving mother waited nearly 30 years after her son&rsquo;s death, only erecting his memorial once the monarchy was firmly back on the throne and in popular favour.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">I crossed the ridge-and-furrow and struggled back up the escarpment by way of steep King John&rsquo;s Lane (what was that wicked monarch doing here?). Two long-distance paths, Centenary Way and Macmillan Way, run the length of Edgehill ridge and provide a wonderful grandstand view over the plain to the far hills. I walked for miles, pushing into the wind and savouring the prospect. &lsquo;Mornin&rsquo;!&rsquo; hailed an Ancient Mariner, stumping by on a stick. &lsquo;Bit breezy!&rsquo;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">At last the path edged away from the ridge. I crossed the county boundary, turning my back on the windy heights of Warwickshire and descending into the calm of a hidden cleft in the Oxfordshire wolds. In a sunken lane going down to Hornton I met two shifty gents and their lurchers. &lsquo;Hungry, mate? You&rsquo;re only five minutes from the Dun Cow.&rsquo; Ha, ha, very funny &ndash; that delightful inn doesn&rsquo;t open on a weekday lunchtime. But the beauties of Hornton&rsquo;s thatched houses, their rich gold stone and air of deep-sunk contentment seemed refreshment enough on this vigorous day.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">There was laughter in the Rose &amp; Crown along the way in Ratley, thrush song in the yew outside the square-built church. Some kind of spring-time God must be in his heaven, I thought, as I stole a pinch of sage from a wayside bush and made up the fields towards Edgehill.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\"><u>Start &amp; finish<\/u>: Castle Inn, Edgehill, Banbury, Oxon OX15 6DJ (OS ref SP 374474)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\"><u>Getting there<\/u>: Bus (<font color=\"#0000ff\"><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.johnsonscoaches.co.uk\/\">www.johnsonscoaches.co.uk<\/a><\/u><\/font>) service 269 Banbury-Stratford. Road: M40 Jct 12; B4451 to Gaydon; B4100 towards Warmington; right to Edgehill. <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\"><u>Walk<\/u> (10 miles, moderate grade, OS Explorer 206): Go down footpath by inn (&lsquo;Battlefields Trail&rsquo;\/BT). In 30 yards, right (blue arrow\/BA) down woodland path. Right at bottom (BA). In &frac14; mile, left (377478; kissing gate, yellow arrow\/YA) down field to Radway. Left along road. Opposite church, left down Westend. At Church Farm, right fork of footpath past right end of cottage (&lsquo;King John&rsquo;s Lane&rsquo; fingerpost). On for &frac14;<font color=\"#ff0000\"><strong> <\/strong><\/font>mile; left (366475) up King John&rsquo;s Lane.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">At top of ridge, forward (&lsquo;Centenary Way\/CW, Macmillan Way\/MW&rsquo;). In &frac12;<font color=\"#ff0000\"><strong> <\/strong><\/font>mile cross farm lane at Edgehill Farm. In &#8532;<font color=\"#ff0000\"><strong> <\/strong><\/font>mile, left up A422 at Sun Rising (<em>very dangerous blind bend! Take care!)<\/em>; right along CW\/MW. In &#8532;<font color=\"#ff0000\"><strong> <\/strong><\/font>mile CW forks right (356450), but follow MW ahead, down to lane. Left (354446; MW) to cross road. Continue with fence and hedge on your right (MW) down into valley for 1 mile to pass barn (371440). At end of 2<sup>nd<\/sup> large field past barn, where MW passes through gate as broad track, leave MW, turning left uphill to cross stile on skyline (376435). Diagonally left across fields (YA; &lsquo;D&rsquo;Arcy Dalton Way&rsquo;\/DDW). At road, left to cross A422; right along its verge; in 300 yards, left (382439; DDW) for 1 mile along bridleway past Hornton Grounds into Hornton. (Dun Cow PH to your left &#8211; see note below on opening times!).<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">Forward past school; follow Millers Lane uphill to cross road (392455). Bridleway (BA, fingerposts) for 1 &frac14; miles to Ratley (NB &#8211; <em>very<\/em> muddy around Poplars Farm &#8211; 390461!). In Ratley, left down Featherbed Lane past Rose &amp; Crown; left past church; left opposite Old Post Office, past Manor Farm (stone stile); on across fields (YAs). At top of rise, over stile (379471); right (BT) to road. Right for 50 yards; left (YA, BT) to Castle Inn.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">NB &ndash; Online map, more walks: <font color=\"#0000ff\"><u><a href=\"..\/\">www.christophersomerville.co.uk<\/a><\/u><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">Note: some very muddy parts &ndash; boots\/gaiters advised!<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\"><u>Lunch<\/u>: Dun Cow, Hornton (01295-670524; open every evening, but lunchtimes Sat, Sun only; open weekday lunchtimes by prior arrangement; please phone); Rose &amp; Crown, Ratley (01295-678148; <font color=\"#0000ff\"><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.roseandcrownratley.co.uk\/\">www.roseandcrownratley.co.uk<\/a><\/u><\/font>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\"><u>More info<\/u>: Banbury TIC (01295-753752); <\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\"><font color=\"#0000ff\"><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.visitcoventryandwarwickshire.co.uk\/\">www.visitcoventryandwarwickshire.co.uk<\/a><\/u><\/font>; <font color=\"#0000ff\"><u><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ramblers.org.uk\/\">www.ramblers.org.uk<\/a><\/u><\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm\" class=\"western\" align=\"justify\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the afternoon of 23 October 1642 two nervous and inexperienced armies, each of about 15,000 men, faced each other at Edgehill on the Warwickshire\/Oxfordshire border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}