The Civil War in Worcestershire, 1642-1646, and the Scotch invasion of 1651

Preface

In the Autumn of 1904 the Worcestershire County Council organised courses of lectures for teachers in the ■elementary schools, and did mc the honour to ask me to give one of the courses. The subject I selected was the Civil War in the County, and this for two reasons. First, that there should be some connected account of the part the C(-)unt)' played in the great struggle ; none existed, and ideas as to the fighting were disconnected and vague. Secondly, I hoped that if once an interest could be excited in the subject that some of the legends of the war that still remain might be preserved. After all, 250 years is not so ver\- long. I knew, when a boy, an old lady who told me that her nurse's father, as a young man, ^vas on duty on Worcester Bridge at the battle. Mr. Burton, in his History of Bewdley, tells of an old inhabitant who had been informed by his grandfather that he had heard the sound of the guns at the battle. There are numbers of legends as to where Charles I. slept when in the Count}', and some few as to where Cromwell stayed ; but all are stated to relate to the Battle of Worcester. Possibly most of them have a foundation of truth, and the}' are at least worth preserving,

I cannot lay claim to any original research, or to having done anything to throw light on some of the <lark places of the Count}- history. I have failed to get any clear account of several of the less kno^\•n incidents of the Civil War, such as Lord Willoughby's fight before

IV. PREFACE.

Edgehill with Rupert'.s cavalry; Wilmot's attempted relief of Dudley ; Fox's carryinf^ off Sir Thomas Lyttelton ; the fight at Corse Lawn ; the Clubmen ; the plots in 1647' and 1648. These are only some of the points on which further information is wanted.

Except that certain additions (mainl)' extracts from different authorities) have been made, the lectures are printed substantial!}- as they were given. Various points which deserved to be treated at length are consequently very briefly noticed.

The book is only a concise summar}-, not a histor}',. of the Civil War in the County. On one point I have ventured to depart from the generalh' received opinion, and to put forward m}- own views,^ — the campaign of 165 1. I do not believe that Cromwell ever intended to finish the battle in the way it was finished, but when the chance came to him he took advantage of it.

I have to thank various persons for help. Mr.

Duckworth, of the Worcester Victoria Institute, for the old plan of Worcester as it stood fortifield ; Rev. J. R. Burton, for view of Bewdley Old Bridge ; Mr. Wm. North, Te\\kesbur\'. for permission to reproduce Old Bridge at Upton-on-Severn ; and Mr. Mason, of the Count\- lulucation Office, for arranging the lectures.

J. W. B.

J I 'orccstcr,

C O N T E N 1^ S

Chapter I. 1642

Cause of the fighting in Worcestershire. Source of supplies, Roads, Bridges, Rivers. Towns — Worcester, Bewdley, Kvesham, Dudley, Hartlebury, Havvkesley, Strensham, Madrestield. Soldiers' arms, uniforms, pay. Generals- Maurice. Sir William Russell, Sir Thomas Lyltelton, Samuel Sandys, Sir Gilbert Gerrard, Vavassour, Mynne. Parliament officers— Massey, Sir John Wilde, Harl of Denbigh, Lord Brooke, Tinker Fox. King's want of money. Plate. Sir John Byron. Oxford. Byron's convoy : attempts to intercept it. Fiennes' attack on Worcester. Powick. Battle of Powick Bridge. Essex occupies Worcester. Treatment of citizens. Death of Sandys. Plundering. Wharton, Bartlett. Ruperts march. Lord Willoughby's fight. Evacuation of Worcester ; of Hereford ... ... .. Page 3

CHAPTER H. 1643.

Plans of the two parties. Discipline in Royalist Army. Hide's case. Contributions. Men raised for the King. Cirencester. Siege of Gloucester. Defeat of the Welsh at Highnam. Raising the siege by Waller. Maurice appointed General. INLiurice in Forest of Dean. Maurice's retreat. Battle of Ripple. Rupert's march on Birmingham — capture. March on Lichfield. Waller takes Hereford. Attack on Worcester repulsed. Massey Governor of Gloucester. Battle of Lansdowne. Royalist retreat. Roundaway Down. Surrender of Bristol. Siege of Gloucester. Essex's advance to its relief. Siege raised. Charles' retreat into Worcestershire. Essex at Tewkesbury; takes Cirencester. Ru[)ert's pursuit. First battle of Newbury. Massey's operations round Gloucester. Vavassour's attempt to gain the Surrender of Gloucester. Mynne ... ... ... ... ... Page 61

CHAPTER HL 1644.

Scotch Army enters England. Rupert at Bewdley, Tinker Fox at Edgbaston, Hawkesley, Stourton Castle ; carries off Sir Thomas Lyttelton. Mynne in command in South- West. Capture of Tewkesbury. Charles' escape from Oxford. March to Broadway, Evesham, Worcester. Wilmot's attempt to relieve Dudley. Quarrel between Essex and Waller. Waller follows Charles. King goes to Bewdley ; returns to Worcester, Evesham, Oxford. Battle of Cropredy Bridge. Charles' return to Evesham. Siege of Tewkesbury. Corse Lawn.

Massey attacks Mynne. Battle of Redmarley — death of .Mynne > Page 112 vt. CONO'ElNTS.

CHAPTER IV. 1645.

Massey storms Evesham. Charles' march to Inkberrow, Droitvvich, Bromsgrove. Siege of Hawkesley — capture. Charles' march. Naseby. Charles retreats to Wolverhampton, Kidderminster, Bewdley, Hereford, South Wales. Advance of Scots to Alcesler, Droitwich, Bewdley, Hereford. Charles' march to Oxford. March to Worcester, to Bromyard. Hereford. Scotch raise the siege, retreat to Gloucester, and march through Evesham on their way north ... ... ... ... Page 146

CHAPTER V. 1646.

Astley collects Royalist- force. Defeated near Stow-on-the- Wold. Charles surrenders to Scotch. Orders for delivery up of garrisons. Leveson surrenders Dudley, Sandys Hartlebury. Worcester holds out. Siege of Worcester. Surrender, and of Madresfield and Strensham. Close of the war ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Page 175

Royalist plottings. Cromwell in Ireland. The Broadway Plot. Disbanding of Hopton's Regiment. Worcester re-garrisoned. Dud Dudley's plot. Arrest. Treatment. Sentenced to die. Escape. Sequestration ... ... Page 196

CHAPTER VII. 1651.

Cromwell goes to Ireland. Charles in Scotland. Cromwell returns— goes to Scotland. Battle of Dunbar. Royalist plots. Charles sets out for England. Carlisle, Preston, Warrington. Need of recruits. Deviation to Worcester. City occupied. Cromwell reaches Evesham. Lambert takes Upton. Defeat of Massey. Royalist preparations for attack. Disposition of forces. Parliamentary attack. Fighting west of the Severn. Cromwell crosses the Severn — Royalists driven into St. John's. Royalist sortie repulsed. F'ort Royal carried. Defeat. Town taken — plundered ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Page 213

Introduction

The following pages are an attempt to give an account of the great Civil War so far as it concerned Worcestershire.

Usually, the Battle of Worcester has been taken as synonymous with the Civil War in the County, but it was quite an isolated incident, that did not occur until live years after the great war had ended.

Shortly, the story of the Worcestershire fighting was as follows : —

1642. The King moved from Nottingham to Shrewsbury. The Earl of Essex, who commanded the Parliament army, was ordered to prevent the King advancing on London, so marched from Northampton to Stratford-on-Avon, Pershore to Worcester. Charles, having completed his preparations, marched by Wolverhampton, Birmingham, towards Banbury, thus getting between Essex and London. Turning round, he defeated Essex at Edgehill, and slowly marched on towards London. The result was that the Parliament troops evacuated the County.

164J. The King established his head-quarters at Oxford, and was most anxious to win the Highlands of the Cotswolds and the line of the Severn. The Parliament had two armies. Their plan was that the two armies, one of which was engaged before Reading under Essex, the other under Waller had its head-quarters at Bristol, should unite and take Oxford. Essex took Reading. Waller, operating from Gloucester, cleared the county, and by taking Hereford cut off communication with Wales. To make all safe in the Severn Valley, Charles besieged Gloucester, but Essex was able to raise the siege.

1644. Again the Parliament tried the same plan as the previous year. Essex and Waller were to join and march on Oxford. They did so, and very nearly caught Charles, but he escaped, marched by Broadway to Evesham, Pershore to Worcester, and on to Bewdley. Waller followed him, but the two armies did not come to close quarters ; the only fighting was Wilmot's attempt to relieve Dudley Castle, which was being besieged by Lord Denbigh. Charles retired towards Oxford, followed by Waller, who was defeated by Wilmot at Cropredy Bridge. Charles then returned into Worcestershire, and stayed at Evesham for some days.

164^. Massey, the Governor of Gloucester, stormed and took Evesham, thus severing the Royalist line of march from

2 INTRODUCTION.

Worcester to Oxford. Charles marched to Inkberrow, Droitwich, Bromsgrove, and on to Leicester and Naseby, where he was defeated; then back, by Kidderminster, Bewdley to Hereford and South Wales. The Scotch army came to the help of the English, and marched to Alcester on their way to attack Worcester, but turned off to Droitwich, Bewdley, and so to Hereford, which they besieged. Charles marched north, and Avorking round reached Oxford. Having got some troops together, he marched to the relief of Hereford. He stayed several days in Worcester, marched from there to Bromyard and on to Hereford, but on his approach the Scotch raised the siege, marched to Gloucester, crossed the Severn, then marching through Cheltenham, Evesham, to Stratford-on- Avon on their way towards Newark.

1646. During the winter a Royalist army was collected in Wales, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire, and marched towards Oxford, but were met by the Parliamentary troops near Stow-on-the-Wold and destroyed. Shortly after this Charles left Oxford and gave himself up to the Scots. He issued orders to his captains and officers to deliver up the places they held. Dudley Castle surrendered, as did Hartlebury. Worcester was besieged and held out to July, when it had to surrender. Included in the Articles were Madresfield and Strensham. With their surrender the Civil War, so far as Worcestershire was concerned, came to an end.

164'j. During the whole of the year Royalist plots went on to bring about the King's release, or for a rising. The chief of these was the Broadway Plot.

1648. The Royalist plot, ended in the second Civil War, the chief feature in which was the siege of Colchester. An attempt at a rising, organised by Colonel Dud Dudley, was made in Worcestershire, but it was suppressed, Dudley taken prisoner, sent to London, and condemned to die. The morning before his execution he escaped.

i64g. The King was executed. Charles II. went to Scotland and was proclaimed King. The Parliament troops were engaged in putting down the Irish.

1650. Cromwell, having finished off the Irish, went to Scotland and defeated Leslie and the Scots at Dunbar.

1651. After a good deal of negotiations and manoeuvres Charles, at the end of July, invaded England, marching through Carlisle on London. When he got to Stafford it was thought desirable to halt for reinforcements from Wales, and to meet these men Charles marched to Worcester. Cromwell, meanwhile proceeded down the east coast, marched across to Evesham, thus getting between Charles and London, advanced on to Worcester, attacked and routed him at the celebrated Battle of Worcester.

CHAPTER I.

Worcestershire is one of the smaller English Counties. Its igreatest length is but 43 miles, its width 34, and its area 738. Yet in this confined space more fighting went on during the great Civil War than in most other Counties. Within it the first and the last Battles were fought. Worcester was both the first and the last city to realise all that a military occupation meant. In every year of the war there was more or less fighting within it. Dudley and Evesham were besieged, Ripple and Camp Hill, Redmarley, and Hawkesley, all saw fighting, and fighting that was no child's play. Through Worcestershire Charles I. retreated after the siege of Gloucester was raised. Through Worcestershire Charles 1. advanced to 'meet his fate at Naseby. The County was also the scene of Charles' two greatest tactical exploits — his campaign of June, J1644, and his relief of Hereford in 1645. Into Worcestershire Rupert led the Royalist Cavalry for their first fight. Out of Worcestershire Astley manoeuvred, and manoeuvred in vain with the last handful of Royalist troops which were slaughtered on the Cotswold Hills. At Worcester itself that mercy was vouchsafed, " the dimensions of which," so Cromwell wrote, " were above his thoughts." *

Why was Worcestershire the scene of so much fighting ? A glance at the map of England gives the answer. Charles ,had to rely upon Wales for men and money. Worcestershire was on the direct route between Wales and London, or, rather, .between Wales and Oxford, the Royalist head-quarters. Throughout the war Charles was in the utmost need of supplies such as the County was able to furnish. The Court of the Welsh Marches, a local jurisdiction which gave the Crown very large and very arbitrary powers over both individuals and property, included Worcestershire in its area, although the County again and again tried to get free from it.t Worcestershire was a valuable recruiting ground. For many years, as appears from the minutes of the Privy Council as to recruiting and from entries in the Worcestershire Sessions Records! as to maimed soldiers, men were habitually ■drawn from Worcestershire for service in Ireland. If, as seems

* Whitelock, 483. f .Sessions Records I., p. ccxxiv. { IIj., 44, 63, 105.

not unlikely, Sir Charles Wilmot was a Worcestershire man,^ the County had in him a leader who did not shrink from any service, however desperate or "forlorn," against Irish rebels or Spanish troops. Ireland, from the constant fighting that went on there, was a most valuable training ground for soldiers, both officers and men. It is very difficult to say to what extent the men raised in Worcestershire for service in the Civil War had been trained there, yet there can be but little doubt that not a few in the Royalist ranks, both officers and men, had received their " baptism of fire '' in Ireland.

It was necessary for the Royalists to keep open their communications with Wales, it being the place on which they relied for support. Nothing can shew more clearly that thev did not rely in vain than a letter, written years after the war by the then Marquis of Worcester to Charles II. " How came," he writes, " His Majesty's army to be considerable before Edgehill fight but b^ the men I brought;"* and he goes on to state that Sir John Byron's Regiment, the first regiment raised for the King, was only mustered by means of a sum of ^5000 paid for the purpose by his father (the Earl of Worcester), who, he says, " spent in the whole for King and country ^918,000,'' which, if money is be taken as at five times its present value, the rate usually stated, amounts to about ;^4, 000,000 ; an almost incredible sum for a subject of that day to provide, when American and African millionaires did not exist. It was not only money that the Earl of Worcester sent the King ; on several occasions he furnished such numerous reinforcements as to amount almost to an army. He wholly provided the force that Waller, whether by tactics or by treachery, defeated before Gloucester in 1643.

Men and money came to the Royalists from Wales in more or less constant supplies. They had to come through Worcestershire, so the County had to be garrisoned for the King. Whoever held Worcestershire had practically the command of the Severn, which was a point of the greatest moment to the Royalists. In addition there were other reasons which added to the importance of the County. It could supply, and was one of the few places that could do so, various military stores of which the King was in dire need. As he had failed to secure the arsenals of Portsmouth and Hull, he did not possess any supply of swords, pikes, guns, shot; all these Worcestershire could and did provide. From Stourbridge came shot, from Dudley cannon. The numberless small forges which then existed on every brook in the north of the County turned out successive supplies of sword blades and pike heads. It is said that among the many causes of anger Charles had

Hist. I\1.SS. Com. .\ii. rep., :ipp. g, against Birmingham was that one of the best sword makers of the day, a man named Porter, who Hved and made his blades in Worcestershire, but sold them in Birmingham, refused at any price to supply swords for "the man of blood," or any of his adherents.

As a set off to this sword maker, the Royalists had among their adherents Colonel Dud Dudley, who had invented a means of smelting iron by the use of coal, and who claimed he could turn out " all sorts of bar iron fit for making of muskets, carbines, and iron for great bolts,"* both more cheaply, more speedily, and more excellent than could be done in any other way. His method was now employed on the King's behalf. The two following receipts will shew how Worcestershire was engaged in providing for the King in the early days of the war : —

" Ultimo die Decembris, 1642.

" Received the day and year above written, of Sir William Russell, Baronett, ■" High Sheriff for the County of Worcester, the sum of five pounds, towards ' the casting of shot for His Majesty's service. I say received £Cj.

"per me, William Duddeley."

" Die quart' Jan., 1643.

" Received the day and year above written, of Sir William Russell, Baronett,

" High Sheriffe for the County of Worcester, the sum of seven pounds, towards

" the casting of ordinance for His Majesty's service in the said County. I say

" received 7li.

''per me, Bryan Newton."

There are other similar receipts among the Russell Papers, one on the 8th February, 1643, for casting ordinance ; one on the loth February, 1643, for casting iron ordinance, all of which prove what a valuable source of supply Worcestershire was to the Royalists. Besides cannon, shot, swords, and pikes the County provided other supplies. Droitwich gave an unfailing store of salt ; the Worcestershire Forests a constant store of charcoal, pike handles and palisades. In fact all that the Royalists were most in need of, the County could and did supply.

If Worcestershire was important as a source of supply, it was equally important as a line of communication. It is difficult for us to realise what a centre Worcester then was. No one, for instance, would think that Worcester had any connection with Ireland, yet the following passage in a letter from Lord Ormonde's man of business in London to him in Ireland would show it was. The letter is dated the 5th October, 1641.!

" The clothes are not yet done. I shall have them this night or to-morrow, " being the 5th of this instant October, which if I do I shall have fit opportunity " to send them by waggon to Worcester, which I conceive now to be the readiest •" passage for them."

* Metallum Martis, p. lo. f Hist. MSS., Ormonde Papers, NS. I. 45.

Possibly Worcester being a point from which Bristol or ai northern port might be reached, made it a spot where thetraveller could decide on the route to follow.

Some six roads met at Worcester which, to apply to them a term of to-day, carried " through " as opposed to local traffic. These roads are : —

(i.) The Oxford and London Road. This entered the County near Honeybourne, passed through Bretforton, over the Avon at Offenham at Twyford Bridge, where Offenham Boat is now, then through Norton, Wyre, Pinvin, White Ladies' Aston, Spetchley, Red Hill, to Worcester. This is and was the direct road from Worcester to Oxford, and by it all convoys of supplies and all detachments of recruits would have to pass.

(2.) At Worcester this road divided, one branch to the right is the road to the north, spoken of, near Birmingham, as the " Bristol Road." It crossed Barbourne Bridge and went to Droitwich, Bromsgrove, over the Lickey to Northfield, and passed out of the County into Warwickshire at Bourn Brook.

(3.) Another branch, also going to the north, after crossing Barbourne Bridge, went to the left through Ombersley and Hartlebury; here it again branches off the road to the right, going through ihe parishes of Chaddesley Corbett and Belbroughton, past Hagley and Pedmore to Stourbridge into Staffordshire. This is the road by which Charles IL went after the Battle of Worcester. The road to the right at Hartlebury passed through Kidderminster, and so on to Bridgnorth.

(4.) The road crossing the Severn at Worcester, and going by Kenswick, Martley, crossing the Teme at Ham Bridge, through Clifton-on-Teme to Tenbury, and then into Shropshire. On this road is the Tenbury Bridge over the Teme. When this was damaged in 161 5, the town of Tenbury asked the Sessions to help to repair it, as it was " the great thoroughfare from most places in Wales to the City of London."*

(5 ) The road from Worcester crossing the Severn, proceeding by Cotheridge, Broadwas, across the Teme at Knightsford Bridge, and so on to Bromyard, thence to Hereford and Wales. Along this road the troops sent with^ Lord Stamford to occupy Hereford in 1642 returned, t and Charles L marched along it to relieve Hereford in 1645.

(6 ) The road from Worcester going south along the east bank of the river (the Bath) road, passing through Kempsey, Severn Stoke, to Tewkesbury and Glouc-ester. It was along this road Waller advanced to attack Worcester in 1643.

There were other important roads, but they were more of

.Sessions Records, March, 1615, p. 212. f Archfeologia, xxxv., 332.

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to O local importance, or else served as alternative routes. Thus the road on the west bank of the Severn, through Powick and Hanley Castle to Upton, by which Fiennes' cavalry retreated after Powick, and by which Fleetwood advanced at the Battle of Worcester. The road leading out of the Oxford Road at Spetchley, and going by Upton Snodsbury to Inkberrow and Alcester, the road by \vhich Fiennes advanced to attack Worcester in September, 1642. As all these roads ■converged at Worcester, and as they were practically the only modes of communication with other parts of England and Wales, the importance of Worcester as a centre is obvious.

This must not be considered as in any way a list of either the main or the important roads of the County. There were others, such as the road from Droitwich to Feckenham, through the Old Feckenham Forest, along which the Scots marched on their way to Hereford in 1645; and the old Roman Road, the " Icknild Street," called locally the " Buckle Street," along the upper end of which Rupert marched when he fought at Camp Hill ; but these did not directly converge on Worcester.

Along all these roads durmg the nine years of the war troops were being constantly marched and convoys sent. Heavy waggons, drawn by teams of oxen, following one after the other could not have been good for the roads, not even if, possibly, they were in a fair state of repair at the beginning of the war, or, at least, in sufficient repair to be passable by the ordinary waggons with comparative ease; they could not have long continued even in this state. The system then in force of compelling the owners and occupiers of land to send their men and teams to do so many days' work on the roads in each year was not an ideal one, and if it was effective in times of peace when there was only ordinary traffic, which is very doubtful, it must have completely broken down with the extraordinary traffic of the war. There are, however, two facts that lead to the conclusion that the roads were to a great extent if not impassable, yet extremely difficult to travel. It appears from the Sessions Records that the bridges on the roads were always breaking down and becoming " difficult of passage.'' Thus on the most important road — the London Road — there is a bridge still :Standing at Wyre, one of the few that retain a trace of once having had an image of a saint as part of its structure, possibly because it was a bridge the Bishop of Worcester was liable to repair. However the bishops of those days discharged their other duties, they neglected that of repairing bridges, for the Bishop was not infrequently indicted for neglecting to repair this bridge. A little further on towards Oxford the road •crossed the Avon by a bridge, known as " Twyford Bridge."

The liability to repair this bridge rested on the inhabitants of Offenham. They were on several occasions indicted for non-repair of this bridge.

If this important road was in such a state, it is not wonderful to find that in more remote parts of the County landowners and parishes were constantly being " presented " for their neglect in keeping the bridges in good repair. Matters must have got worse and worse during the war, as breaking down bridges was a frequent part of the military operations. For instance, it is said that in Charles' march from Broadway to Rewdley in 1644, the damage done to the County from breaking down bridges amounted to ;^io,ooo, which seems to be a prodigious sum, taking money at its present value. The bridge at Bewdlev, in 1662, caused the inhabitants to petition Sessions to repair the bridge, an arch of which was broken down in the course of the Civil Wars. The cost of repair was much beyond what the borough was of itself able to bear. The bridge at Upton-on-Severn, although a charitable inhabitant of Upton named Hall left an annual sum which still goes to its repair, never got over the damage it received during the Civil War, in spite of two centuries' patching, until it was removed in 1853 and replaced by the present iron erection.

But the bridges were not the only part of the roads that were out of repair. The presentments sent in annually by the constables of each parish in the County had to state the condition of the roads in the parish. Unfortunately, only a portion of these have survived, but from those that have we are able to form some idea of the state of the roads. The usual thing stated is not that the roads were in good repair. They could not bring themselves to swear that, but "our roads are well repaired for the time of year," or " our roads are in sufficient repair." Notwithstanding these statements the fact remains that no less than 24 of the parishes in the County were in 1636, just before the outbreak of the Civil War, indicted for their roads being out of repair.* Bad as the main roads were, the bye-roads were worse. Probably in Worcestershire they were especially so, for the simple reason that in some parts they had never been made. Two large districts of the County, the area of Malvern Chase, that is, speaking broadly, all che County west of the Severn and south of the Teme, and the area of the Forest of Feckenham, that is, again speaking broadly, the area north of the road from Worcester to Spetchley, Upton Snodsbury and Inkberrow, and south of the line of hills from Redditch, Alvechurch and The Lickey, there were no roads, merely forest tracks. Charles, in the early part of his reign, had been much pressed for money,

* .Se.ssions Records, 1633, p. 525.

CIVIL WAR, 1642. II

and had sold his forestal rights in various districts, including Malvern Chase and Feckenham. Some clearing had been done, and tracks had been made across the forest without let or hindrance, but roads in the strict sense there were none. A presentment to the Sessions in 1635 brings this out quiteclearly.*

'"The ro:ids in the enclosed Forest of Feckenham," it says, '' are in great " decay, and verj- dangerous for the King's Majestj-'s liege people and cattle to '■ pass over, and we desire that there may be a cotnse taken in this Court that " the occupier of the said late enclosed land maj- make good the same as we " think it fit."

The best idea of the state of the roads is given in the following letter from the Vicar of Alvechurch to Sessions : — t

'■ The Parish of Alvechurch has many roadwaj-s and thoroughfares for ' travellers, both on horseback and for carriages bj- wains and carts, and other ' common highwa3's to divers market towns through sundr}' parts of the said ' parish, but all so ill and negligently repaired that divers enormities redound ' therefrom, not onlj- to many of the parishioners themselves, but also to many ' others travelling by those ways. In particidar myself, in the harvest time, ' riding about m}- lawful and necessary- occasion of t3'thes, have been twice fast ' set in the mire in common roads and market wa3-s not without danger. By ' occasion of these ill-repaired highways I am forced to sell much of mj' tythes ' under value. Much of this ill-repair is caused by some who staunch up ' water in ditches, turning them out of their course to water and overflow the 'adjoining grounds, and in some of the roads, formerl}' used for passage on ' horseback and loaded waggons and cattle, cannot be used for passage on ' horseback without danger of getting fast and miring."

How far this description of the Alvechurch roads applied to the whole County it is impossible to say. What can be said isthat the Sessions Records shew complaints from all parts of the County, and not merely from one district, and not alone from those parts that were at one time included in the meetes and bounds of the ancient forests.