The English Civil War, Devon... and a ghost or two.

© Chris Collingwood

The County of Devon, in south-west England was heavily involved in the 17th century conflict of King against Parliament. Mostly pro-King Charles I the County Town of Exeter eventually fell to Thomas Fairfax and Cromwell, with the fighting effectively ending in the West Country – and therefore bringing about the end of the entire war a few months later, when eighty barrels of gunpowder, stored in the church at the North Devon town of Torrington exploded. There happened to be a desperate battle taking place at the time between the Roundheads and Cavaliers – as the two opposing sides are commonly known. 

My daughter, Kathy, has the gift of being able to see ghosts: not the scary spooks out to frighten, but benign presences looking as real as any living person. The difference is, most are dressed in the clothes of their period, and they all suddenly vanish. Apart from that, they look as real and alive to her as any one of us would. (Of course if you don’t believe in ghosts, that’s fair enough, but this article probably won’t be of interest to you!)

There is a group of English Civil War king’s cavalry troopers lingering in our village pub. We think from their appearance and agitation that they are in the process of fleeing from the aftermath of that disaster – Torrington is only a few miles away from our village. The bang when that gunpowder exploded must have echoed along our river valleys for miles!

There are reports, too, that two cavaliers are often seen in an upstairs room of another North Devon pub, while another soldier of the New Model Army – a Roundhead – has also been seen at the same pub.

Ghostly cavaliers have been seen beneath a stand of trees near South Molton, but oddly very few ghosts have been reported in the North Devon town itself, despite a three-hour long battle having taken place there.

The market town of South Molton gained wealth from the wool trade and had its origins in the Anglo-Saxon era. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. During Oliver Cromwell’s Interregnum, the Sealed Knot, then a secretive organisation, now also a modern re-enactment society, was formed with the intention of overthrowing Cromwell and placing King Charles II on his rightful throne. The planned uprising in 1655 was a failure, but following a small success in Salisbury, Sir John Penruddock headed west, and on 14th March his exhausted men arrived at South Molton, only to meet with Cromwell’s men. Fierce fighting broke out resulting in Penruddock being captured and beheaded.

Defeated, the Royalists who survived fled. Some were captured and immediately executed, while seventy were sold into slavery and transported to the West Indies. (It is not widely understood that many English, Scots and Irish men, women and children, suffered this fate under Cromwell’s rule – as you will discover by reading my host, Cryssa Bazo’s wonderful series of novels!)

Only a couple of these South Molton soldiers – from either side – have been glimpsed in the town, but I am sure more of them are there...

(originally posted by Cryssa Bazos on her blog)

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