Author: Phil Barham

Orders of the day, Volume 34, Issue 4, Aug/Sept 2002

Introduction

Kent, despite her reputation as the tranquil garden of England full of hop fields and apple orchards, has a long history of armed rebellion: the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the rebellion of 1450, John Ball, Wat Tyler, Jack Cade - the list is long and the Civil War years are no exception.

Parliament had passed an ordinance against the recognition of fast days and religious festivals, regarding them as ‘vain and superstitious observances’. On Christmas Day 1647 the citizens of Canterbury had gathered together in St. Andrew’s church to celebrate the birth of the Lord. The Mayor, with an armed contingent, attempted to enforce the ordinance by ordering merchants and tradesmen to open their shops and continue business as usual, but a hostile mob had soon gathered and shots were fired. The irate official and his badly beaten men were held in confinement. Riots broke out and the mob placed armed guards on all the main city gates. The disturbance did not go unnoticed by Parliament. A regiment of foot under the leadership of Colonel John Hewson was sent from London to quell the insurrection. This was soon achieved and the ringleaders were imprisoned in Leeds Castle, eight miles from Maidstone.

In April 1648 riots again broke out, this time in London and Norwich. A petition was drawn up by the rioters testifying loyalty to King Charles I who was being held prisoner by the Parliamentarians. They also called for the military forces commanded by Lord Thomas Fairfax to be disbanded.

In Kent the Christmas rioters were to be tried by the County Committee but the bill against them was dismissed. Another petition was being prepared but Parliament demanded that it and all ‘tumultuous meetings’ be suppressed. On 22nd May, refusing to be bullied, Kent rose in open rebellion.

Campaign

Edward Hales, a 25 year old supporter of the Royalist cause, decided to lead the uprising and was received with enthusiasm by local Royalists. Within days he was to be replaced as leader by George Goring, the elderly Earl of Norwich. Assembling a makeshift army of apprentices, watermen and gentry at Rochester, Hales marched for London with the petition. Parliament was understandably alarmed at the speed with which the uprising had developed. On 26th May Lord Thomas Fairfax, as General of the Parliamentary Standing Army, was ordered to take 8000 troops of horse and foot and pacify the restless heart of Kent.

By 30th May the Royalists had reached Blackheath but Fairfax was waiting for them. They asked to be allowed to hand the petition in at Westminster but were refused. Heated words were exchanged, swords drawn and the Royalists retired back to Kent.

Fairfax and the Parliamentary Army continued on through Eltham and by 31st May had arrived at Gravesend. From here he sent a troop of horse to reconnoitre the enemy positions at Rochester, but discovered the drawbridge raised and the opposite bank of the Medway bristling with cannon. He continued south passing over the North Downs to Meopham where the army rested for the night. By noon the next day, Thursday 1st June, the Parliamentarians were under the leafy canopy of East Malling wood.

First shots

Situated on the North Downs near Burham village, the Royalist Army, now under the command of the Earl of Norwich, knew the Parliamentarians were in the area. From his 11,000 troops, Norwich sent 3000 men into Maidstone to guard the bridge while 1500 were ordered to cover the river crossing at Aylesford village. Fairfax, aware of the Royalist position, turned southwards across Barming Heath and down to the little ragstone bridge at East Farleigh. As the Parliamentarians started to cross the bridge, a small picket of Royalist musketeers, sent from the garrison at Maidstone, opened fire killing several mounted men. Fairfax’s own musketeers returned fire and the Royalists took to their heels.

The Governor of Maidstone, Sir Gamaliel Dudley, with his lieutenant Sir John Mainy had protected the town with barricades and earthworks, placing them at the top of Stone Street and the lower part of Gabriels Hill. Cannons, probably large drakes loaded with case-shot were positioned at the top of Gabriels Hill.

Main Battle

That evening at approximately 7pm it began to rain heavily. Having driven a party of musketeers from an earthwork, 60 of Fairfax’s dragoons clashed with a troop of Royalist horse sent to guard the southern entrance of the town. A vicious fire-fight ensued and the dragoons were pushed back. News of the confrontation reached the Earl of Norwich who immediately sent Colonel William Brockman with several detachments of horse and foot to reinforce the town.

Sir John Mainy dispatched another troop of horse and foot to assist the first; they joined the fray, forcing the dragoons along Dean Street. At this point the Parliamentary Army with Colonel John Hewson’s regiment of foot in the vanguard emerged from the Lower Road and joined the fight without orders to do so. Further Royalist troops under the command of Colonel William Brockman sallied out from the town and soon the fight had spilled into the surrounding fields. Fairfax, despite having to travel by coach because of an attack of gout in his right leg, mounted a horse and rode into the enemy ranks boosting the morale of the hard pressed Parliamentary troops. The Royalists fled back to Maidstone, pursued by a troop of harquebusiers.

At the top of Stone Street near the Tovil Road the harquebusiers clashed with Edward Hales, now Lieutenant-General of the Royalist forces, as he was riding at the head of the Red Standard of horse. The Parliamentary horse gained the upper hand and although Hales survived, he was forced back amid great slaughter.

When Fairfax and the main body of the army had caught up they began clearing away the barricades that impeded their line of march while musketeers continuously fired at them from doors and windows of surrounding houses. As the Parliamentarians reached the bottom of Stone Street Fairfax ordered Colonel Hewson and his regiment forward. The Royalists rushed to meet them, yelling their watchword “King and Kent”. Hewson was brought down by a blow from a musket butt and was dragged to safety by his men. Captain Price, a long serving officer, was shot and killed. Recovering his senses, Hewson led his troops on, forcing the Royalists across a bridge that spanned the Len, a small river that flowed past Gabriels Hill. It was now nine o’clock.

The Parliamentarians, tired and soaked to the skin by the incessant rain, faced another barricade protected by musketeers and once again Colonel Hewson’s men were sent in. Further up Gabriels Hill Royalist pikemen lowered their pikes and descended to meet the oncoming threat. Despite fatigue, Hewson’s regiment fought with ferocious determination and eventually forced them back. As the pikemen retreated, the Royalist musketeers peppered the enemy until they were within range of the waiting cannons. Lowering linstock to priming powder, the artillerymen blasted the advancing Parliamentary troops with a lethal cocktail of case-shot. The effect this concentrated fire-power had on massed ranks of men crammed into the narrow confines of Gabriels Hill was devastating. Repeatedly the cannons fired, but under the exemplary leadership of Fairfax, Hewson and other officers, the troops maintained their cohesion and for over two hours continued to inch forward. During a pause in the firing Hewson’s men shouted their watchword “Truth” and charged the guns before the Royalists could reload. Within minutes they were overwhelmed as the rest of the Parliamentary Army came over the hill. The Royalists retreated up Week Street but continued to hold their opponents in check for more than an hour with disciplined musket fire. Finally they were driven into St Faith’s churchyard making a courageous last stand before surrendering in the early hours of Friday 2nd June.

1400 Royalists were taken prisoner, including Sir Gamaliel Dudley and Colonel William Brockman. 3000 arms, 9 foot colours, 8 cannon and 16 barrels of gunpowder were also captured. 300 Royalists were slain, Sir John Mainy among them. Parliamentary losses were 80 killed, most losing their lives on Gabriels Hill.

Aftermath

On receiving news of Maidstone’s fall the Earl of Norwich retreated to Rochester. With the last of his army, 3000 men, he then rode for Blackheath, eventually being pursued as far as Colchester.

The fight on Maidstone’s streets was a grim, hard contested affair that would remain in the minds of the survivors for many years to come. Veterans of the Parliamentary Standing Army claimed it was the hardest they had ever fought. The insurgent Royalists, although led by highly respected men, were an untried rabble with little or no experience of warfare. Yet for several hours they managed to severely maul a highly trained and efficient Parliamentary Standing Army.