£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?  ...

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 ...

A trip to Ripple Field

Old Nan's Hill, Ripple, where Waller and his men arrayed before the battle

A recent trip to the Forest of Dean afforded the opportunity to visit a number of Civil War landmarks.

Following Prince Maurice's stalking of Waller near to the Welsh border my trip took me through the villages of Little Dean and Highnam before arriving at the village of Ripple in Gloucestershire - the site of the Prince's  first telling blow against his nemesis ...