Commemorating the Battle of Marston Moor, 375 years on

On 2 July 1644, on a gently sloping moor just outside of the city of York, five armies met in what was to become a watershed moment in the English Civil War.

Marston Moor would prove to be the biggest battle of the civil wars that rocked the British Isles and Ireland in the 1640s and ’50s, 15,000 Royalists under Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Earl of Newcastle, against 24,000 under the Scottish Covenanter leader Lord Leven and his Parliamentarian allies, the Earl of Manchester and Sir Thomas Fairfax. It was also one of the most decisive battles of the wars, losing the North for the king, obliterating one of his armies, and effectively marking the beginning of the long, slow end of his attempt to overcome his own Parliament.

This weekend, 375 years after the battle, we will join other members of the Sealed Knot to commemorate the thousands who fought and died, many in unmarked graves, on these fields in the bucolic Yorkshire countryside.

On Saturday evening there will be a Festival of Remembrance at the All Saints Church in Long Marston. Drums and colours of the Sealed Knot will form a guard of costumed reenactors, while authentic muskets will fire a volley as part of the service.

On Sunday, they will march from Long Marston to Tockwith via the battlefield monument, where a short service will be held and concluded with musket and cannon fire.

At 2.30pm prompt, the parade will leave the village and march to the memorial obelisk, with the short service taking place at approximately 2.45pm.

As reenactors of the Earl of Manchester’s Regiment of Foote, Marston Moor holds great significance for us – not only was it the biggest battle the original regiment fought in and featured some of the most intense fighting those men faced, but it was such a pivotal moment in the civil wars that would change England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland forever. We will honour the dead on this special anniversary and contemplate what their sacrifice means for us today. Please join us.