THE Battle of Evesham usually refers to the August 4, 1265, event when Simon de Montfort was killed. But as reporter Gerry Barnett has been finding out, there was another battle, on May 26, 1645, nowhere near so long or bloody, which also played a big part in the

history of England.

THE story is told in Civil War in Evesham, A Storm of Fire and Leaden Hail, by Malcolm Atkin, county archaeology officer for Worcestershire, who has a special interest in the history and archaeology of the English Civil War.

The book has been published by the Vale of Evesham Historical Society.

"Worcestershire held an important strategic position during the English Civil Wars of 1642 to 1651," he says. "It commanded the main route from the Royalist and Parliamentary capitals of Oxford and London into Wales and to the munitions centres of the West Midlands.

"The war affected the whole county and nowhere more so than Evesham and the surrounding villages. The town was the gateway into the county, controlling the bridging point over the Avon. It was a place of frequent rendezvous for the Royalists, a coveted prize for the Parliamentarians and ultimately the scene of a violent battle to seize control as part of the campaign of the re-conquest of the county. This was a town on the front line of the Civil War."

In the booklet, which is available from The Almonry Heritage Centre in Evesham, Mr Atkin describes what life was like in Evesham and the Vale in the 1640s as he details the events leading up to the battle which was centred on the defences on the north side of the town.

The attack on the Evesham garrison under the command of Colonel Robert Legge, took place at dawn and Mr Atkin says recent archaeological evidence suggests it was focussed on the west and central part of the defences, explaining the absence of musket balls in the fill of the defence ditch excavated off Swan lane.

The Parliamentarian troops under Colonel Edward Massie forced their way into town over Bengeworth bridge up Bridge Street and into Abbey Park where the Bell Tower still bears the scars of musket fire on the base of its walls. Finally trapped against the river in a battle that lasted only one hour but described as 'a storm of fire and leaden hail', the Royalists finally surrendered. Despite the ferocity of the battle there were remarkably few casualties on either side.

"The importance of Evesham's role during the Civil War can be judged," says Mr Atkin, "on a number of levels. For the town itself, the war had a great, and detrimental, effect on the economy of the town throughout the 1640s and 1650s. Its topography was changed through the creation of defences whose line still survives to this day.

"The Battle of Evesham, though short and sharp, was fought out within the streets and lanes of the town and had great significance for the rest of the war in the Midlands. It proved to be the springboard for the Parliamentary recapture of Worcestershire. Finally, in 1651 Evesham was the focus of national attention as the rendezvous for the entire Parliamentary army that was drawn together to crush the Scottish army of Charles II and end his bid to win back the throne by military means."

The Civil War in Evesham is available from the Almonry Heritage Centre, priced £4.50.