InfoBritain

 

Torrington 1646

 

The Battle of Torrington, which took place on 16th February 1646, was the final parliamentarian victory of the English Civil War . By May Charles I had surrendered. The battle is commemorated in Great Torrington in Devon every year with a torch lit procession on February 16th. There is also a well established visitor attraction known as Torrington 1646, in which visitors get practical experience of being involved in the Civil War. Torrington 1646 is geared towards children, and the emphasis is very much on directed activities, fun, and education. There might be a slight air of Carry On English Civil War but the recipe seems to work well.

The English Civil War often seems to come in for this fun and sociable approach. There is a large English Civil War Society in which people join either the King's Army or the Roundhead Association. Perhaps in a strange kind of way this modern treatment of the Civil War reflects something of its nature. Dividing lines between people during the war could be very confused. As Richard Ollard says in This War Without An Enemy the Parliamentarian leader Sir William Waller had a notoriously bad relationship with his commander in chief, Robert Devereux. But with his opponents "he got on famously." (P85) It was Waller who fought against Sir Ralph Hopton, commanding the Royalist forces of Cornwall, which were defeated at Great Torrington. Waller wrote to Hopton:

"That great God which is the searcher of my heart knows with what a sad sense I go upon this service and with what a perfect hatred I detest this war without an enemy: but I look upon it as Opus Domini [the work of the Lord], which is enough to silence all passion in me. The God of peace in his good time send us peace, and in the meantime fit us to receive it. We are both upon this stage, and must act these parts that are assigned us in this tragedy. Let us do it in a way of honour and without personal animosity." (Quoted P85)

The Civil War was terrible, as wars are. Perhaps it was more terrible in the feeling of some combatants that the whole thing was a strange play in which they were compelled to act. Perhaps modern day re-enactments do get closer to the reality of the Civil War than we might imagine. I don't mean this in the sense of having historically accurate costumes (which seems a major concern!), but more in the sense of acting out a play.

Opening Times: note that tours take two to three hours.

January to March: Monday to Saturday for schools and pre-booked groups only.

April to June : Monday to Friday 10am, last entry 3pm.

July to August: Monday to Saturday, 10am. Last entry 3pm on weekdays, 1pm Saturdays.

September: Monday to Friday 10am, last entry 3pm.

October and December: Schools and prebooked groups only.

December, January: pre booked tours only.

Directions: Great Torrington is about seven miles south of Bideford in north Devon, on the A386. Follow brown tourist signs to Castle Hill. Click here for an interactive map centred on Torrington 1646.

Access: most areas of the site are accessible to wheelchairs. Staff are trained in working with visitors who have sight or hearing problems.

Contact:

telephone: 01805 626146

web site: http://www.torrington-1646.co.uk/attraction.htm

e-mail: 1646@great-torrington.com

 

Thanks to Torrington 1646 for images used on this page