New research on London's English Civil War fortifications: a Q&A with David Flintham (FRGS)

George Vertue’s 1738 plan of London's English Civil War fortifications.

David Flintham (FRGS) is an expert on London's English Civil War fortifications (readers may remember the guest blog article David wrote for me on siege types). David got in touch recently with news of a major archaeological project that he's been involved in, investigating the fortifications (also known as the 'lines of communication'), the findings of which were published in the Winter 2021 issue of London Archaeologist.

A paper introducing the project and summarising its initial findings will shortly be available at https://www.vauban.co.uk/the-ecw-defences-of-london. After reviewing the key research findings, I asked David about the significance of the project's discoveries, which challenge assumed knowledge about the location and purpose of London's fortifications ...

London and the English Civil War: A lecture by Barry Coward (2008)

The White Tower, Tower of London. Image: © Copyright Rod Allday (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Here's an interesting read: a transcript of the revised version of Barry Coward's presidential lecture given at the Historical Association’s Annual Conference at the Museum of Childhood on 12 April 2008 (a shorter version was given to the Friends of Senate House Library on 7 March 2005).

Interactive map: London's English Civil War defences
A walk round Brentford and Turnham Green

Guest blog: Siege types of the English Civil War (David Flintham FRGS)

Cromwell's Tower on Tresco, Isle of Scilly. Built c. 1651 (see www.vauban.co.uk/kingdoms-under-siege for further information).

The 17th century was a watershed in European history: it was the century when the superstitions of the medieval period were largely laid to rest and replaced by scientific reasoning. The origins of the great transformations of the 18th and 19th centuries (the Enlightenment, and the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions) are firmly in the 17th century. The transformation on the battlefield was no less dramatic – military engineering which was regarded as an ‘art’ during the 16th century was very much a science by the end of the 17th ...

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) ...

Siege of Colchester map

View Siege of Colchester 1648 in a larger map
Best viewed in a larger window, so click on the link above.

The map above shows the locations photographed for the previous article on the Siege of Colchester during the English Civil War. I've also added in the line of the town wall as it would have been in 1648 and the conjectural position of the Parliamentarian lines and some of their larger fortifications ...

'St Martin's Sconce' confirmed in Worcester

Photo: Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service / Arial-Cam

Excavations on a development site close to Worcester city centre have confirmed English Civil War remains first suggested in earlier evaluations.

'St Martin's Sconce' was a bastion constructed as part of the city's defences, and saw action in both the siege of 1646 and the battle of 1651 ...