News

New First Battle of Newbury Information Board Unveiled

21 September 2026

A new information board marking the death of Lord Falkland at the first battle of Newbury (1643), has been installed in a project run jointly by the Battlefields Trust Mercia Region, Newbury Town Council, and local historian Dave Stubbs.

The board was unveiled on 20 September 2026, the anniversary of the battle, by the Newbury Town Mayor, Councillor Jo Day. The Battlefields Trust was represented by Trustee Neil Hart and Research Coordinator Simon Marsh. Re–enactors from the Marquess of Winchester’s regiment provided some period colour at the opening ceremony.

Neil said, ‘the Trust has now been involved in installing three information boards to improve public understanding about this key battle of the British Civil Wars. We were delighted to support Dave Stubbs, who has been the driving force behind the project, and are grateful for Newbury Town Council’s assistance with funding and installation’.

The new information board has been installed near the junction of Essex’s Street and Dark Lane, close to where Lord Falkland was killed.

A new painting, by the renowned military artist Graham Turner, showing the moments before Lord Falkland’s death, illustrates the information board. The painting is based on Lord John Byron’s account of the battle and was sponsored by John Bolan, a former president of the Falkland Cricket Club.

The first battle of Newbury was fought when the Earl of Essex’s parliamentarian army was blocked on its return to London from raising the siege of Gloucester by the royalist Oxford army. The battle saw the royalists being forced to withdraw and Essex’s army successfully returning to the capital.