Following in the footsteps of the King D
by Richard Aust
id you know that 368 years ago a future king of England passed through Bromsgrove in fear of his life?
That monarch, of course, was Charles ll, whose army had been heavily defeated by Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers at the Battle of Worcester in September 1651. Charles just managed to escape on horseback to Boscobel House in Staffordshire where he hid in the oak tree to evade capture - and was now on his way hoping to find a ship to take him to safety in France. As he neared Bromsgrove Charles had a major problem because his horse shed a shoe. Whilst waiting for the blacksmith to sor t things out Charles cheekily asked him about the fate of the defeated king. On hearing that the “rogue Charles Stuar t” had not been captured, Charles replied “The rogue deserves to be hanged!” Tradition has it that this incident took place at Ye Olde Black Horse inn on Worcester Road. Charles resumed his journey through the Cotswolds and the Mendips to the South coast, eventually going along the South Downs to Shoreham where he made his escape to France. Charles dictated these adventures to the diarist Samuel Pepys and many of the locations on the escape route can still be visited today. The Monarch’s Way Long Distance Footpath uses footpaths and bridleways closely following the route taken by Charles. At 615 miles it is England’s longest inland footpath. I was lucky enough to be able to complete the whole distance in 2019 and really did have a sense of walking through history with the added advantage of some superb scenery. The route has been waymarked throughout by volunteers of The Monarch’s Way Association, website: www.monarchsway.50megs.com There are three excellent guide books available, the first of which covers the section from Worcester to Stratford-upon-Avon, and the path is specifically named on the Ordnance Survey’s Landranger and Explorer maps. Within the Bromsgrove District Council area, the route includes a short segment through Hagley up to the obelisk on Wychbury Hill. There is a longer walk south from near
32 Completely Bromsgrove
Halesowen Abbey, including the Waseley Hills, Wildmoor, Dodford, Sanders Park, Ye Olde Black Horse, Aston Fields, Tardebigge church and on towards Headless Cross. If you don’t fancy a long walk, then the views from both Tardebigge churchyard and the Waseley Hills toposcope are breathtaking. Visits to Boscobel House, Madeley Old Hall (National Trust) and the King Charles House near Friar Street in Worcester will all reveal rich historical details of the fugitive king’s escape.
