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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.



HER Number MWB16535
Record Type Monument
Name Bigg's Hill

Grid Reference SU 438 637
Map Sheet SU46SW
Parish Enborne, West Berkshire
Map:Show location on Streetmap

Summary

High ground where Essex drew up his Parliamentary forces at the start of the First Battle of Newbury, 1643

Monument Type(s):

Full Description

Money describes this hill as being 'of considerable length and elevation' <1>. The name appears on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map <2> although it is not marked on a summit. Hill Farm, c300m to the northeast, is closer to the highest point of the area, which is c400 feet or 120m above sea level. Bigg's Cottage is adjacent to Bigg's Hill; Gelling notes the first appearance of the name in 1547 <3>.

Essex drew out his army on Bigg's Hill according to Clarendon <4><5>.

The GIS point has been marked where Bigg's Hill is written on maps.

Sources and further reading

<01>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)
<02>Landmark. 1872-85. Digital Ordnance Survey Mapping Epoch 1, 1:2500 (25 inch). Digital. 1:2500. [Map / SWB14341]
<03>Gelling, M. 1974. The Place Names of Berkshire - Part Two. English Place-Name Society Vol L. p295. [Monograph / SWB10371]
<04>Roberts, K. 2003. First Newbury 1643 - The turning point. p67-83, Plans. [Monograph / SWB14321]
<05>Clarendon, Earl of. 1704. The History of the Rebellion. [Monograph / SWB146752]
https://archive.org/details/england01claruoft (Accessed 01/03/2016)
<06>Gelling, M. 1974. The Place Names of Berkshire - Part Two. English Place-Name Society Vol L. p295. [Monograph / SWB10371]
<07>Day, J. 2007. Gloucester & Newbury 1643 - The Turning Point of the Civil War. [Monograph / SWB147216]
<08>Barratt, J. 2005. The First Battle of Newbury. Plan. [Monograph / SWB146738]
<09>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]
<10>English Heritage. 1995. Battlefield Report: I Newbury 1643. [Unpublished document / SWB12743]
<11>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)
<12>Money, W. 1881. The First and Second Battles of Newbury (1st ed). [Monograph / SWB11644]
https://archive.org/details/firstsecondbattl00monerich (Accessed on 02/08/2022)
<13>Money, W. 1905 & 1972. A Popular History of Newbury (also Walter Money's History of Newbury). p40. [Monograph / SWB11278]

Related Monuments

MWB15762Newbury I Battlefield, 1643 (Landscape)

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

  • None recorded