Marshall's Elm Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

GizmoKyla: As the owner has not responded to our previous log requesting that they check this cache we are archiving it.

Please note that as this cache has now been archived by a reviewer or HQ staff it will NOT be unarchived.

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Dave & Dawn
GizmoKyla
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Hidden : 12/9/2009
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

The cache at Marshall’s Elm can be accessed from many directions so the terrain and views will depend upon route/footpath taken to and from the cache. Stealth may be required as the area is used by dog walkers. Wellies are recommended after heavy rain. Suggested parking N51 06.304 W002 43.841

A short history lesson about one the 1st skirmishes that took place in the 1st English Civil (1642-46) at Marshall’s Elm.

In July 1642, King Charles commissioned the Marquis of Hertford lieutenant-general of the six south-western counties of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall and sent him into the West with a Commission of Array and instructions to rally support for the Royalist cause. Hertford intended to set up his headquarters at Bristol, but abandoned the plan in view of the strength of Parliamentarian feeling in the city. Accompanied by three troops of horse and about two hundred foot raised by local Royalists, Hertford advanced to Wells in Somerset from where he issued warrants requiring the local gentry to provide men, arms and supplies. Meanwhile, Parliament appointed William Strode as its deputy-lieutenant of Somerset and instructed him to raise forces under the the authority of Parliament's Militia Ordinance.

Marshall's Elm, Somerset, 4 August 1642

Soon after Lord Hertford's arrival at Wells, news reached him of an intended meeting of local Parliamentarian leaders at Shepton Mallet. On 1 August, Hertford sent his second-in-command Sir Ralph Hopton into Shepton Mallet with a troop of horse to proclaim the King's Commission of Array. A street fight broke out when Colonel Strode confronted Hopton and called out the local militia for Parliament. Although Hopton read out the commission, the Parliamentarians forced him to make a hasty withdrawal. While most of the old county families of Somerset supported the King, a powerful class of minor gentry was predominantly Parliamentarian in sympathy. John Pyne, MP for Poole, recruited a force of six hundred foot and marched to join forces with Colonel Strode. One of the earliest skirmishes of the English Civil War took place at Marshall's Elm on 4 August 1642 when the Royalist Sir John Stawell led a troop of eighty horse to prevent Pyne from reaching Shepton Mallet. Advised by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lunsford, Stawell drew up his troops on Walton Hill as the Parliamentarian column approached. Stawell sent dragoons to take up positions in quarry-pits at the foot of the hill in preparation for an ambush. The Parliamentarians faltered when the Royalist dragoons opened fire, then Lunsford led a charge down the hill with the rest of the cavalry. The inexperienced Parliamentarians broke and fled, leaving seven dead and twenty wounded.

For those interested in more info on the Englsih Civil War in South West go to (visit link) and follows the links.

In 1826 the site of a Roman Villa was discovered in a field close to where the cache is located. Also close to Marshall’s Elm a Roman road was discovered.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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