M Warwick LEAMINGTON 4 A361 0 SPA 15 M1 14 NORTHAMPTON 46 A 13 A423 16 Stratford- A5 upon-Avon 15A 12 3 15 A361 4 A3400 A 429 Cropredy A M40 M 1 A5 429 Silverstone Milton A 11 A Keynes A3400 4 22 A43 ay BANBURY Fossew Brackley M40 Buckingham To A421 S A361 A4260 A43 D Evesham L O W 10 A421 S Chipping T Norton O Bicester A4 C 4 E R 1 I A361 4 H 9 A A41 S D M40 R Woodstock O To Cheltenham A34 F X O A40 Kidlington Witney A40 A40 Location Map OXFORD A34 8 8 Acknowledgements The production of this leaflet would not have been possible without the help of: Cropredy Parish Council and Cropredy Historical Society Additional Information All of Cherwell District Council's circular walks and rides are published on the Council website and can be downloaded free. Leaflets can be purchased from Banbury Tourist Information Centre (01295 259855). For further information about circular walks and rides, guided walks and grants available for countryside access projects, please contact:- Leisure Services Department Cherwell District Council Bodicote House, Bodicote Banbury, Oxon, OX15 4AA Telephone 01295 221706 [email protected] www.cherwell-dc.gov.uk ] Printed on Recycled paper Designed by TCG Advertising and Design Ltd. Cropredy Battlefield Walk Places to Eat & Drink Approx 4.5miles / 7km The Red Lion Inn The Cropredy Circular Walk is one of a series of guided trails (01295) 750224 established by Cherwell District Council. The route takes in a Traditional village stretch of the Oxford Canal and fieldpaths with views up and down pub serving real the tranquil Cherwell Valley. Much of the ground covered was ales. Good beer guide listed. the scene of the Civil War Battle of Cropredy Bridge in June 1644. Restaurant serving traditional pub meals at lunchtime plus evening The route is signed and described in a clockwise direction, à la carte menu. Open every lunchtime and evening. Check for although it can be walked either way. Ground conditions can be exact times and reservations wet and muddy, especially in winter, so you are advised to wear stout footwear and take waterproof clothing. Please take particular care when walking along the road The Brasenose Arms verge into Williamscot. (01295) 750244 Traditional village pub serving real ales. Restaurant serving Cropredy Village Trail traditional pub meals at lunchtime plus evening à la carte menu. Open every Approx 1mile / 1.6km lunchtime and evening. Check for exact times and reservations A short circular walk around the village centre describing some of the more interesting buildings and features. Most of the historical information is taken from the booklet “Cropredy, A Village Trail” The Green Scene (01295) 758203 by Pamela Keegan, which describes the whole village in detail. Craft gallery and tea shop serving home made pastries and Many of the buildings described are private dwellings. Please light lunches. Open Tues - Sat respect the privacy of the occupants by viewing from a polite 10.30am - 5.30pm distance. Bridge Stores (01295) 750354 Car Parking Village general store, newsagent, off licence and bakery. Both walks start and finish at Cropredy Sports Ground, where Open Sat & Wed 8am - 7pm, Sun 8.30am - 5pm (1pm in winter), free car parking is available every day during daylight hours. Walkers other days 8am - 6pm are requested not to park their cars elsewhere in the village. The Battle of Cropredy Points of Interest Bridge - 1644 A Cropredy Bridge There has been a bridge on this site since at least 1312. The mid-seventeenth century was a time of great constitutional, It was last rebuilt in 1937, and prior to this, in 1884 by local political and religious tensions. The struggle for control between builder Thomas Cherry. The Parliamentarian army crossed this King and Parliament reflected all of these and resulted in civil war. bridge in the battle of 1644, heading east and north eastwards On 28 June 1644 the two armies were on opposite sides of the to engage the King’s troops. River Cherwell at Banbury. The Parliamentarians, (led by Sir William Waller) had the stronger position on top of Crouch Hill but neither side was prepared to risk crossing the river. King Charles I On the morning of Saturday 29 June the King conspicuously began to march his troops northwards in order to “...observe Waller’s motion and to expect a fitter opportunity and place to give him battell”. B Old Toll House The Parliamentarian army followed The canal narrows to the width of one barge outside the Toll until it reached the hilltop at Great House. This allowed a Bourton. Seeing that the Royalists had wooden beam to be become widely spread out along the route Waller sent two cavalry passed across until detachments to attack across the Cherwell, one at Cropredy tolls had been paid. Bridge and one at Slat Mill Ford. The house of which it is part was “The After initial success the Parliamentarians were pushed back Navigation Inn” across the river, suffering heavy casualties and losing important around the time the artillery. For a day the two sides watched each other across the canal was being built. valley, then very early on Monday morning the King marched southwards. Waller’s army depleted by widespread desertions and “Bridge” with low morale, was in such disarray that he did not attempt to C give chase. Sculptor Michael Fairfax and Oxfordshire poet Jamie McKendrick have worked together on a unique series of artworks for the The significance of this battle lies in the effect it had on the Oxford Canal funded by Cherwell District Council and Southern Parliamentarian side. The unexpected failure to win at Cropredy Arts. Michael has inscribed Jamie’s poem ‘Bridge’ on four black Bridge was a cause for great concern and was one of the factors iron “mileposts”. The tops echo the shape of a hump-backed which influenced Parliament’s decision to raise a professional or bridge, and the central motifs represent steps leading up to a lock. ‘New Model’ army, which was formed by the following year. D Panoramic View ‘Bridge’ by Jamie McKendrick To the north west you can see the village of Claydon on top of the hill. Down at the bottom of the field note the sculptures in the garden of the tall barn. The big house across the canal from The Hump Backed Bridge Cropredy is Prescote Manor, which owns the estate through which you are now walking. is taking umbrage and making a bright E Williamscot hoop Records first mention a settlement here in 1166. King Charles I slept in a “very poor man’s house at Williamscot” after the Battle of Cropredy Bridge. In the early 19th Century, Williamscot had three inns, several small shops and a school, but by 1877 the population had fallen dramatically, with up to 35 buildings having been demolished. Poplars Farmhouse dates from the late 17th Century and is built from of its bricklined arch ironstone, which is the predominant building material in the hamlet. like a dancer’s sturdy instep F Slat Mill Ford on the unbroken surface As you approach the double gated bridge, try to imagine the Parliamentarian troops coming towards you across the river as they marched up the hill to engage the Earl of Northampton’s Royalist Regiment. where the quilled stumps G Oxford Canal of pollarded willows This was one of England’s earliest canals (1790) and was the shiver like the steel first to connect the industrial Midlands with London. It continued bristles to carry commercial traffic until the 1950s, and now has a new lease of life as a recreational waterway. The entire 83 miles of towpath between Oxford and Coventry can now be walked. on a flea’s armour or rest head down like sable brushes in a jar of turps 5 Follow the path down the hill and through the next Circular Walk Directions field. Cross the farm road and follow the track over the Varney’s d Roa Lock ee River Cherwell and through the wood. Follow the field edge tr e until the next boundary. pl 4 At the bend, turn right on to the bridleway. Go through Cl Ap aydon aydon Broadmoor one field gate and then another. The path now runs Lock diagonally across the middle of the field and up the hill. At the Broadmoor Road Bridge 6 Follow the right fork of the path diagonally top of the hill stop for breath and take in the panoramic view. across the field and then turn right. Follow the 3 field edge through the next three boundaries, D Prescote heading towards a stone barn. 3 Manor Continue along the towpath 4 Farm until you reach the next lock at The Mill House Broadmoor Bridge (Number 150). At 5 7 Go through 8 Turn left and follow the lock, turn right off the towpath the field gate the road verge into and on to Appletree Road. Turn left down Oxford Canal and follow the through the hamlet of Appletree Road, passing the tall barn hedgeline (now on Williamscot (Take care along on your right hand side. your right) to the this section). Turn right just Prescote ll we Manor er Williamscot Road. before the National Speed Ch r e v Limit sign and follow the i 6 R Wardington road straight ahead. C House 2 Turn left, through a small gate and down onto the Cropredy canal towpath. Turn right to double back underneath B 2 A 9 Walk around the traffic barrier up the the bridge.