The West Berkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary index of the physical remains of past human activity in the unitary authority of West Berkshire Council. Limited elements of the West Berkshire HER are available online via the Heritage Gateway, therefore it is not suitable for use in desk-based studies associated with development, planning and land-use changes, and does not meet the requirements of paragraph 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2021: 56). Please read
the important guidance on the use of the West Berkshire HER data. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the Archaeology team and complete our
online HER enquiry form.
This site is designated as being of national importance and is afforded additional protection. Consult West Berkshire Council's Archaeology team if more information or advice is needed.
| HER Number | MWB16534 |
|---|
| Record Type | Monument |
|---|
| Name | Round Hill |
|---|
Summary
Strategic location for Parliamentarians during the First Battle of Newbury, 1643
Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status
- Registered Battlefield 1000026: Battle of Newbury 1643
Monument Type(s):
Full Description
'Round Hill' is in fact a small spur of the plateau that runs from Wash Common in the east to Enborne Heath, but viewed from the low ground to the north it has the appearance of a round hill, rather than that of the end of a ridge <1>. The Royalists' failure to secure the hill was a crucial element in the outcome of the 1st Battle of Newbury, as the Parliamentarians were able to bring two light guns to this strategic location, and then open fire on Royalists in the fields below.
Although the name Round Hill is not marked on Ordnance Survey maps until the 5th epoch <2>, and then only in relation to a house built there, the moniker appears in virtually all accounts of the battle, including apparently the contemporary Royalist ones. Money <3> reports that Lord Digby, writing a day after the battle, described the elevation as "a round hill from whence a battery could command all the plain before Newbury."
Sources and further reading
| <01> | Burne, Lt Col A H and Young, Lt Col P. 1959. The Great Civil War - A Military History of the First Civil War 1642-1646. p97-107, Map p100. [Monograph / SWB146726] |
| <02> | Ordnance Survey. 1962-1981. Ordnance Survey Epoch 5, 1:2500. 1:2500. [Map / SWB14665] |
| <03> | Money, W. 1884. The First and Second Battles of Newbury (2nd ed). p38. [Monograph / SWB12745]
http://openlibrary.org/books/OL14008014M/The_first_and_second_battles_of_Newbury_and_the_siege_of_Donnington_Castle_during_the_Civil_War_1643 (Accessed 23/09/2013) |
| <04> | 1640s. Mercurius Aulicus. Saturday 14 October, 1643. [Article in serial / SWB146751] |
| <05> | Anon (Digby?). 22/09/1643. A True and Impartial Relation of the Battaile betwixt His Majesties Army and that of the Rebells. ... [Unpublished document / SWB12744] |
| <06> | Burne, A H. 1951. The Battlefields of England. p201-12. [Monograph / SWB11266] |
| <07> | Money, W. 1905 & 1972. A Popular History of Newbury (also Walter Money's History of Newbury). p37-50. [Monograph / SWB11278] |
| <08> | Money, W. 1881. The First and Second Battles of Newbury (1st ed). [Monograph / SWB11644]
https://archive.org/details/firstsecondbattl00monerich (Accessed on 02/08/2022) |
| <09> | The Battlefields Trust. 2001-06. UK Battlefields Resource Centre. http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre. Accessed 14/03/2008. [Website / SWB12387]
http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre (Accessed 02/04/2012) |
| <10> | English Heritage. 1995. Battlefield Report: I Newbury 1643. [Unpublished document / SWB12743] |
| <11> | Roberts, K. 2003. First Newbury 1643 - The turning point. p65-8, Photographs. [Monograph / SWB14321] |
| <12> | Byron, Sir J. c 1647. Account of the Battles of Newbury - Clarendon MS 1738. [Unpublished document / SWB146716] |
| <13> | Foster, Sgt H. 1643. A True and Exact Relation of the Marchings of the Two Regiments of the Trained Bands... [Unpublished document / SWB146717] |
| <14> | Day, J. 2007. Gloucester & Newbury 1643 - The Turning Point of the Civil War. [Monograph / SWB147216] |
Related Monuments
| MWB15762 | Newbury I Battlefield, 1643 (Landscape) |
| MWB15814 | Site of Cope Hall, Enborne (Monument) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
| EWB922 | Roundhill House, Cope Hall Lane, Enborne, Newbury, West Berkshire - An Archaeological Watching Brief (Ref: RHE06/149) |
| EWB967 | Roundhill House, Cope Hall Lane, Enborne, Newbury, West Berkshire - An Archaeological Watching Brief 2007 (Ref: RHE07/89) |
If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.
Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.