Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 99/397

136

ARMY HISTORICAL RESEARCH

thin enough and low enough for Prince Rupert famously to jump over it, and for his Lifeguard to follow him. Since the 1679 and 1822 maps depicted hedges lining the Watlington to Oxford road that would have prevented Rupert from approaching the Parliamentarians with so little difficulty, the Register moved the battle site 500 yards northwards. This still did not reflect the correct location as suggested by contemporary evidence, for it takes no account of the site of the long-vanished Warpsgrove House, where documents show the Parliamentary reserve to have been stationed during the action. Similarly the location of the ‘Great Hedge’, which defined the movements of the protagonists before the action, is also very important, especially because some have seen it, incorrectly, as the one jumped by Rupert and his Lifeguard. ‘Great hedges’ have been known as marking parish boundaries since mediaeval times and a remnant of the one dividing Chalgrove from Warpsgrove was composed of a double line of stock- proof hedges with sufficient space in-between for horses to pass side by side. 6 The ‘Great Hedge’ clearly existed in that form in 1643 and it is impossible that Rupert could have jumped it, as it was far too tall, dense and wide. The author’s reconstruction of the seventeenth-century landscape was pieced together initially by overlaying the 1679 map of the field layout around Chalgrove village onto the present 1:5000 Ordnance Survey map. However, the coverage of the 1679 map did not extend as far as the Warpsgrove estate, so the 1849 tithe map of the estate was also used. To the north of Warpsgrove, a map of the manor of Golder dating from 1612 confirmed the outlines of the land around the hamlets of Golder, Lewknor Meadow and Easington. Other maps consulted were a map of the estate of Warpsgrove when it was sold at auction in 1874; William Burgess’s map of Clare manor in Pyrton parish dating from 1735, and the map of the Hamersley estate in Pyrton by B. Badcock of 1835. All of these maps proved that the parish boundaries had not changed since the seventeenth century and that most field shapes were similar and easily recognisable. 7 They also showed the location of the old tracks and routes between parishes that permit a reconstruction of the most likely routes taken to the field by the protagonists. The correct locations of Warpsgrove House and the ‘Great Hedge’ both appeared on the 1612 estate map. 8 Previous researchers have thought that the site of Warpsgrove House was synonymous with that of Manor (or Manor House) Farm but this was an 6 The remnant can be found on OS Explorer 171 Chiltern Hills West Ref 650975 at 51°40’22.64N. 7 Oxfordshire History Centre, MPC 569 (1679 map); MPC 764 (1821-22 map); 408A (1850 map); MPC 782 (1612 map); QS/F/A/18 (1845 map); Paxton Mss 112 (1874 map); Bodleian Library, MS Oxon a2 (14) (1738 map); MS C17: 49 (179 and 180) (1716 map); R (MS) C17: 49 (60) (1835 map). 8 Stevenson & Carter, ‘The Raid on Chinnor ‘, pp. 346-56; John Adair, A Life of John Hampden the Patriot, 1594-1643 (1976), pp. 208-24. See also National Army Museum, 9010-31-286 and 9010- 31-287, Papers of Peter Young, Unpublished paper on Chalgrove: ‘Chapter___’ …. ‘The Chalgrove Raid, 17-18 June 1643’.