THE BATTLE OF NANTWICH AND THE WICKSTED FAMILY
In Mill Street is the Wicksted Arms public house. Recently
it has acquired a new inn sign, The scene on it is an artist`s
impression of what the Battle of Nantwich on January 25th
1644 may have looked like. There is much colourful costume
and banners and prancing horses!
Like the Wilbrahams, the Wicksted family were also landowners
and interested in the activities in the town. Some of them
lived at Townwell House, Welsh Row. This is the three-storeyed
house, next but one to the timber-framed cottage which projects
on to the pavement at the widest part of Welsh Row. Townwell
also reminds us that here was one of the town`s five public
wells.
Richard Wicksted(1543-1623)was a churchwarden and a member
of the leet or court. He was one of the salt Rulers who determined
when the boilings of brine should take place and who set the
strict rules governing the salt-making processes and the sale
of salt. He helped to make or amend the `Town Rules`(like
bye-laws).
John was a mercer(trader in silks and fabrics)and a constable(one
of the three main officials in the town at that time). Thus
he was involved in the notorious case of Roger Crockett of
the Crown Hotel,who was murdered in 1572.
Richard the younger(?1613-52)was a Royalist and had some
of his property confiscated, only to be forgiven later.
Thomas a freeholder in 1666 was a treasurer for the town and
a royalist. A later Thomas was a lawyer and,in 1732, appointed
as one of the trustees to manage the Wright almshouses, once
in London Road, but moved stone by stone to a position at
the rear of the Crewe almshouses in Beam Street.
John Wicksted gave some money for a south gallery in the
church in 1730. The principal families then sat in this gallery
until the 1850s. He helped to amend the Town Rules in 1834.
He and a successor, Thomas, tried to get an act passed in
Parliament relating to the town but were unsuccessful.
A Richard Wicksted(1750-1810) was a doctor and in 1779,
a shareholder in the new Workhouse off Barony Road.
A burial stone can be seen in St George`s chapel in the North
Transept of St Mary`s church.
Going back to the 1640s when England was up in arms regarding
who should rule - King or Parliament. The dispute led to skirmishes
and battles in many parts of the country. One small battle
took place in fields between Nantwich and Acton, approximately
where the canal passes today. Nantwich decided to support
the Parliamentarian cause and set up local headquarters in
The Lamb Hotel in Hospital Street.
For three weeks the town was under siege but in January
1644 a movement towards oncoming Royalists near Dorfold Hall
resulted in the Battle of Nantwich. It started in the afternoon
of January 25th, a cold wintry day and early dark. The
Royalists.sought to capture Nantwich by a pincer movement
and met much frustration in crossing the river Weaver at a
point near today`s Beam Bridge. The Parliamentarians advanced
towards Acton, defeated the Royalists and set them to flight.
The leader General Thomas Fairfax is now recalled in the
name of the new bridge over the river near to the swimming
baths. And again in the re-enactment of the battle which takes
place on the last Saturday in January each year. This is presented
by 300 or 400 Sealed Knot actors, dressed in the costumes
of the time together with their very long pikes, muskets and
canon, but no horses. The event is a great attraction. Many
people watch the men and women march from the Square, down
Mill Street to the Mill Island where there will be seen much
preparation, advances, great pushing at close quarters, several
`dead` , and earth-shaking sounds from canon fire!
The Museum has a detailed account with maps, diagrams, and
a copy of the Fairfax letter. Upstairs is a woven tapestry
of a scene from the battle - snow on the ground and a church
in the background. Although the battle is often omitted in
full written accounts of the Civil Wars, a long account is
reprinted in James Hall`s History of Nantwich,1883,
and the full story in R.N.Dore and John Lowe`s Battle
of Nantwich 25th January 1644 in Nantwich Library.
Further reading
British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1638-1660 at:
http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1644-nantwich.htm
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