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HER Number | MWB16593 |
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Record Type | Monument |
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Name | Speen Hill |
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Summary
Scene of fighting during the Second Battle of Newbury, 1644
Monument Type(s):
Full Description
Although the name Speen Hill has been marked on early Ordnance Survey maps at a location very close to Speenhamland <1>, this is not the natural high point of the village of Speen. Money considered that the 'Speene Hill' referred to in contemporary accounts of the Second Battle of Newbury <2> was the eminence 'rising from the village of Speen towards Benham Park' <3>.
Speen Hill was a significant natural highpoint used during the Civil War, initially by the Royalists. It appears that they built trenches to the west of Speen on the heath which Money seems to have thought were still visible in the 19th century <3>. However, the Parliamentarians who had marched in a wide loop around Newbury, attacked the King's men from the west and eventually routed them.
The GIS point has been drawn on the plateau of the hill, along the line of the old Bath Road, but this is not intended as a precise location of any military activity. No archaeological evidence of the battle has been positively identified yet.
Sources and further reading
<01> | Landmark. 1872-85. Digital Ordnance Survey Mapping Epoch 1, 1:2500 (25 inch). Digital. 1:2500. [Map / SWB14341] |
<02> | Ash, S. 1644. A True Relation of the most chiefe Occurrences at, and since the late Battell at Newbery.... [Unpublished document / SWB146746] |
<03a> | Money, W. 1881. The First and Second Battles of Newbury (1st ed). [Monograph / SWB11644] https://archive.org/details/firstsecondbattl00monerich (Accessed on 02/08/2022) |
<03b> | Money, W. 1884. The First and Second Battles of Newbury (2nd ed). p153-4, Plan. [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> | 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. p185. [Monograph / SWB146726] |
<05> | Rogers, Col H C B. 1968. Battles and Generals of the Civil Wars 1642-1651. p169-172. [Monograph / SWB146743] |
<06> | Money, W. 1905 & 1972. A Popular History of Newbury (also Walter Money's History of Newbury). p54-5. [Monograph / SWB11278] |
Related Monuments
MWB15775 | Newbury II Battlefield, 1644 (Landscape) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
None recordedIf you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.
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