Battle of Naseby
On Monday 27th April we were joined by Stephen Barker who delivered a superbly detailed and thought-provoking talk about the Battle of Naseby.
Naseby, fought on 14th June 1645 was the definitive, brutal battle involving over 27 000 men that brought to a close the first of the three civil wars which wracked England during the 17th century causing the deaths of twice as many as a percentage of the population as WW1 and leading to significant poverty, hardship and destitution afterwards. The 1642-1651 Civil War was fought for 3 main reasons: religious division, competition for power based on Parliamentary resistance to Charles I’s belief in his right to total control due to his “divine right” as king and his dismissal of parliament and, finance – in particular the perilous nature of the economy and Charles’s unpopular methods of raising funds through divisive taxes, such as the Ship Tax.
Stephen talked us through each stage of the battle and explained how, through meticulous archaeological mapping and the many documents that survive, historians have a very precise knowledge of the deadly two-hour battle and its fighting retreat that left a trail of debris behind as soldiers fled the field. Over 1000 Royalist troops lost their lives compared to about 150 Parliament men.
For more information you may like to visit the Naseby Battlefield Heritage Trust: Click here
To follow up Stephen’s talk there will be a guided walk in Naseby to start to explore this area on May 8th (see ‘dates for your diary’ below). However, as the map on the left shows, the scale of the battlefield is significant and not all locations are easily accessed on foot (some also are on private land).
So our walk will take in the village itself and church where we will see a table at which, allegedly, some of the King’s Lifeguards were sitting when surprised by Parliamentary troops on the eve of battle, the Naseby Obelisk where the New Model Army rendezvoused as well as the Cromwell Monument and viewpoint.
Welton Community History Project – sneak peeks!
We are very excited to be ready to go live with the new Welton Community History platform next month. Future newsletters will include features on the people, homes and buildings, events both global and local that have made their mark on our village for over 2000 years.
The Welton Facebook Memories group has been fantastic contributor to our developing knowledge, so a big thank you goers to all who have contributed to that forum.
This month’s sneaky peek… The Headteacher Log Books
Welton Academy holds 3 logbooks written almost daily between July 1895 and September 2005. In it we learn much about the poor conditions of the old school, the very limited early curriculum, the regular inspections by HMI (Her / His Majesty’s Inspectors), the diocese, the Local Authority, the weekly attendance checks by the many vicars of Welton and the dreaded District Attendance Officer, school nurses, doctors and well-meaning wives of Welton landowners who wanted to check on the progress of the girls’ needlework.
In the spring of 1896 the head teacher, J. Reid tells us:
“April 14th – Lady Tulloch visited the school this afternoon
April 21st – Lady Tulloch and Colonel Clarke visited the school this afternoon and watched the children go through their “Physical Drill”.
May 15th – Average [attendance] for week 76. Canon Liddel and Mrs Balfour visited the school this afternoon. Received two maps – “around the World” and “South Africa”. The mental arithmetic shows great improvement throughout the school.”
A map of South Africa? Well, South Africa was of increasing military and economic importance to England following the discovery of gold in the Transvaal… and in three years the Boer War would erupt, so in addition to the History curriculum of “William III, Marlborough, Clive, Wolfe, Cook, Pitt, Nelson, Wellington, Stevenson, Clyde, Franklin, Glencoe, Porteous Riot, the Rebellion of 1798, Union of Ireland 1801, Abolition of Slavery, Crimean War, Defence and Relief of Lucknow, Abyssinian War and Progress of the 19th Century” , a grounding in Empire News was clearly an expectation of School Boards! Who says the curriculum is not political?
Welton History Group website: subscription information
As mentioned on Monday evening, we will soon be moving the manual email list across to the new website by bulk subscribing those who are currently signed up to receive Welton History Group information, such as the monthly newsletter, talks programme and other updates.
This will make the group’s communications easier to handle and more efficient. It also means that, in the event of committee changes, and handover can be done smoothly and professionally.
Please be assured that your email will remain private and will not be passed on to any third party. It will never be used for anything other than Welton History Group information.
Should you not wish to be automatically subscribed please email me using the link below by 20th May.
After May 20th, the email circulation on my computer will be deleted and no further communications will be sent via my personal email address. At this point, any current members not subscribed will cease to receive WHG communications.
I hope this is acceptable to all and that members agree that this is a more sustainable and secure system that will strengthen WHG communications for the future.
Dates for your diary
Friday May 8th: Welton Walkers: There will be a walk open to all covering the area of the Battle of Naseby. We will meet in Naseby however will try to arrange car share options to make transport and parking easier. There will be more details nearer the time on the Welton Walkers Whatsapp group and via email to members of WHG.
Tuesday May 19th: 7.30pm: Village Hall – a free meeting for all Welton to launch the website and the features mentioned at the start of the meeting. At this meeting we will trace what we have produced so far, show you how to access the interactive map and website and also give you a flavour of some of the more surprising things we have learned about Welton and its people!
Tuesday 19th May: 10.30am: WHG outing: walk around the abandoned village of Wolfhamcote, near Braunston which will be led by Mike Tebbitt. We will meet in the car park of the Boat House for a 10.30am departure. This is our official May meeting.
Monday 29th June at 7.30pm (the last meeting of this season) when Helen Frost will be talking to us about The Women’s Land Army in WW1. Officially formed in 1017, the land army enabled vital food production to continue whilst the men served in the army, however as we shall learn this initiative started far earlier and continued long after the armistice. Helen has promised a lively talk with a range of things for us to see, which we will add to in relation to what we have learned about life on the home front in Welton during WW1.
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