ENGLISH CIVIL WAR

WORKMEN renovating one of Osgathorpe’s most historic buildings uncovered a tantalising clue to the impact of the English Civil War on the village.

Embedded in the ancient timbers of the derelict oak-built staircase at Osgathorpe Hall, where building began in 1600, they found a cluster of musket balls. At some stage the grand staircase had been the scene of a firefight.

While we can’t be absolutely sure the shots were fired during the hostilities between Cromwell’s Roundheads and troops loyal to King Charles - it has got to be the strongest possibility. Those musket balls were of the time.

In which case, it begs the question: was the salvo fired by defenders on the landing or soldiers storming the stairs from below? Which side was which and who was on the receiving end?

These unanswered questions are typical of the mystery for anyone trying to uncover any detail about how the war affected the village. Because Osgathorpe was caught between a rock and a hard place during the hostilities. The rock was the Royalist stronghold at Ashby Castle, so impregnable and well-stocked with food it was fit to host the Queen at the height of the war and survive the deadly plague that riddled the area.

The hard place was the firmly Parliamentarian city of Leicester, scene of siege, starvation and slaughter.

Powerful opposing armies marched between the two, as well as to and from Loughborough, so it would be impossible for places like Osgathorpe to have avoided the troubles. The various possibilities this dilemma presented for communities caught in the crossfire are explored in a further article below.

We know that larger properties, and often churches, were occupied and sometimes, like Coleorton Manor House, destroyed at the whim of opposing forces. So there’s no telling which side was holding Osgathorpe Hall at the time that musket shot was discharged.

Every day, current Osgathorpe Hall owner Simon Blunt and his wife Christabel walk those stairs, now returned to their former glory, but even they have no idea where those musket balls were found or where they are now. All they know is that they were discovered - and there’s no reason to doubt that story from 60 years ago.

The discovery happened in the 1960s when painstaking work by a former owner was restoring the Hall to some of its former glory. Mr Blunt (pictured) can now stand on his stairs without fear of injury but history has shown that it wasn’t always that way

Other discoveries at the Hall suggest further possible connections to the civil conflict. At some stage before the renovation, the huge main fireplace was walled-up and disappeared from history.

Its triumphant rediscovery during the same restoration work revealed a large curved indent on the side stonework which experts have identified as sharpening area for bladed instruments.

Given there was a large open fire at this spot, it would be logical to assume that blades were being sharpened to cut and carve meat. But there is a telling detail: the indent is on the left, meaning the sharpeners were right-handed. And the experts told Mr Blunt that at the time of the Civil War, there was no such thing as a left-handed person. Any inclination towards left handedness would be trained away in childhood.

Outside the Hall, at what would have been the front door at the time of the Civil War, there is a similar curve on the stonework. This was from men sharpening their weapons before venturing out - possibly for hunting but also for defence. There is also a suggestion here of a sunken path which would have offered some protection before reaching the cover of the woodland and the ancient footpaths and bridleways leading in several directions.

As with all history, you can’t help thinking that more Civil War secrets will be unearthed in time. It is interesting to note that when a party of about 30 metal detectorists gained permission to explore a field close to the Hall they found nothing that could be dated to the Civil War - but they did find a Roman coin. Who knows what else is beneath our feet, in every field and garden?

The front door of Osgathorpe hall and the indent on the stonework left by blade sharpening by those on the way out, possibly by way of a sunken path.

DEFEATED, exhausted and starving, a desperate Royalist foot soldier, fleeing blindly from the bloodthirsty rout at Naseby in 1645, took the chance to steal a loaf of bread from a farmhouse kitchen.

It was the last meal he ever ate. A woman described as a ‘stout maid-servant’ caught him in an unguarded moment and put him out of his misery with a sharp blow from the heavy ‘muddle’ she was using to turn her washing. His body was unceremoniously dumped on a dung heap.

This incident, a day or two after the decisive battle won by Cromwell’s scarlet-clad New Model Army, happened in Ravenstone, not Osgathorpe, but it’s close enough to speculate that the English Civil War had a clear and obvious impact on all rural communities, including ours.

Noted East Midlands-based historian Prof. Martyn Bennett, who has closely examined contemporary documents, confirms as much in a booklet published by the Ashby   Museum. His comment that ‘the majority of the 17th. Century town and countryfolk would have wanted nothing to do with the war but by force of circumstances were caught up in the tragic train of events’ perhaps perfectly explains Osgathorpe’s perilous position. Situated between the hotspots of Ashby, Leicester and Loughborough, the village, and others around, was very much in the line of fire.

Ashby, in particular, was at the centre of a spider’s web of garrisons and the King’s men stationed there under Henry Hastings (Lord Loughborough) had a particular reputation for helping themselves, so much so that threatening messages were sent to most parish constables saying that if co-operation was not forthcoming ‘you must expect to be exposed to the plunder of the hungry soldier’.

After Naseby, Prof.Bennett reports that priests in particular were an endangered species. More than 100 were rounded up by Cromwell’s marauding, victorious army, some dragged from the pulpit as they spoke. At Loughborough, the Roundhead interlopers were chased off by the women of the parish! What a story that would have been if it had happened here.

We know precious little detail about what actually happened in the village - there are no reports of any priests being dragged away - and it’s tempting to agree with the views of Prof. Bennett and other historians that people in smaller communities like Osgathorpe just kept their heads down, refused to reveal their allegiances (if they had any), and tried their best to accommodate the demands of both the warring armies when they came along.

Places caught in the crossfire were seen as fair game for both sides, eager to soak up resources, supplies and livestock in any way they could. Sometimes they paid, often they plundered. There were some rules - no plough horses should be taken by law - but no farmer was going to argue with a musket or the business end of a pike.

Our fleeing soldier, no doubt aiming for the safety of Ashby Castle, might well have stumbled through Osgathorpe on his way to his ignominious doom at Ravenstone. His story is told in a book called Civil Strife in the Midlands 1642-1651 by Cambridge historian Roy Sherwood and although the book’s sources are contemporary and impressive, unfortunately this particular account is not individually notated. But the book’s general theme - that the conflict caused only strife and fear and trouble for the civilian population - rings true.

Further confirmation can be found in a second useful reference book, Destruction in the English Civil Wars, by Stephen Porter of King’s College, London. Although not centred in the Midlands, the book confirms that if one army thought a property might benefit the other, it would be destroyed, most usually by fire. Both the manor house and parsonage at Coleorton were destroyed. Large houses, farms and sometimes churches were wrecked.

The situation for Osgathorpe was further complicated because Cromwell’s forces established a garrison at Coleorton, perhaps as many as 1,000 men, in order to mount assaults on the mighty castle at Ashby. Royalist forces on their way to and from Leicester would always have a go at the garrison, with various degrees of success on both sides. It is likely these skirmishes would have affected Osgathorpe in one way or another.

In that context, it is interesting to explore what Osgathorpe was like at the time of the English Civil War. Was it more than just a tiny rural community? The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is yes it was.

First of all, there was the 13th Century St. Mary’s church, minus the prominent south west tower until nearly three centuries later. So during the civil war, the building stood as a simpler, less obtrusive medieval structure. It was of no strategic use in a military sense, perhaps too far from the centre of the action. Unlike Coleorton, there was no point in mounting a cannon upon it.

For Osgathorpe’s near neighbours at Griffydam, it was another matter entirely. Its patch of relatively high ground made it a natural vantage point and villager David Maltby, digging his allotment behind the Wesleyan Chapel, found a stone cannon ball dated as being from the Civil War era. A second cannon ball was also found in the village.

We don’t know whether this ordnance was fired in anger, or was simply left behind when a horse-drawn shipment of weapons was plundered. Either way, it is further proof that the war was right on our doorstep. Of course, as explored in the first article, there was a part played by Osgathorpe Hall, at the time of Naseby in 1645 already an established part of the village landscape. In view of what happened at Coleorton, obviously of strategic value because of its proximity to Ashby - close enough to fire a cannon ball - the Hall was obviously of value as a base or source of supplies.

One of Osgathorpe’s most significant historical figures, Thomas Harley, was a young man of 32 living through the turmoil of 1645, and although he and his family owned vast swathes of land, and may even have been living at Osgathorpe Hall at the time of the troubles, he was busy furthering his fortune in London and it’s tempting to think he did what the commoners of Osgathorpe did - kept his head down and attempted to preserve whatever he had. His history of philanthropy shows he must have succeeded.

Both the reference books mentioned in this article will be ‘on loan’ at the Osgathorpe telephone box library if anyone wants further reading. At some stage, the writer of this article would like to reclaim them for his ever-growing collection of history books. Other useful sources are detailed below for anyone who is interested.

Booklets Martyn Bennett, Lord Loughborough, Ashby de la Zouch and the English Civil War
John Litchfield, The Siege of Ashby Castle
Kenneth Hillier, Ashby de la Zouch and The Great Civil War (All available from the local history section of Ashby Library).
Other sources Griffydam Heritage website
Osgathorpe Heritage website
Ashby Museum has an interesting little corner devoted to the castle’s role in the Civil War which might particularly interest children.

Pictures here show a portrait of Henry Hastings, Lord Loughborough, leader of the Royalists at Ashby Castle, and an English Civil War pike, found near Ashby. Both from Ashby Museum.