£20 for Major Smith

Note: article updated 24.05.16 to include missing words/corrections to misreadings - thanks to Simon Marsh and Ivor Carr.

I recently came into the possession of a document written in the 1660s. It appears to be a letter awarding a pension to a solider who had served in the English Civil War.

But how can we be so sure?  ...

London's English Civil War defences 1642-3

View London's English Civil War defences 1642-3 in a larger map.

"And it was also Ordered that there should be Bulworkes presently raised in the Fields before the Citty, to Fortifie the same against any Invation ..."

A Continuation of Certain Speciall and Remarkable Passages 

24 October 1642

Fear that the king and his army were marching on London in October 1642 sent the capital scrambling to fortify itself. The start of November saw the city digging defensive positions, with more forts, ramparts and ditches completing the ring of defences over the following year.

Click on the map markers above to see the conjectural positions of the fortifications (view in larger window) ...

Brentford and Turnham Green walk

One of the Battlefields Trust's explanation boards at Turnham Green, London. View the locations of the Battles of Brentford and Turnham Green on an interactive map.

Marston Moor. Definitely Marston Moor.

Or maybe Naseby.

Though there is Cheriton ... Come to think of it, how about Stow-on-the-Wold?

Each has a claim, though a recent Battlefields Trust walk made a strong case for the Battles of Brentford and Turnham Green to be considered the most significant military event in the English Civil War.

But why do we read so little about them ? ...

Churches still bearing battle scars

St John's, Devizes. The church was in use as a gunpowder store in July 1643 when it
 was hit by the Roundheads' grapeshot. Photo: Brian Robert Marshall (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photos of English parish church exteriors where English Civil War damage is still visible ...