| Summary : Cromwell's Mound is a feature traditionally associated with the Battle of Preston, fought on the 17 August 1648. It is interpreted as a fieldwork, that is, a gun emplacement or earthwork used to provide temporary protection for infantry troops, and is located in a shallow valley through which Moss Leach Brook flows 350 metres north east of the medieval moated site of Broughton Tower. Its location adjacent to the brook suggests the mound may originally have been a dam associated with the water management system of Broughton Tower. The mound takes the form of a 'T'-shaped earthwork measuring 37 metres long by 8-12 metres wide and up to 1.9 metres high with its longest side orientated north west-south east. The Battle of Preston was the largest and final battle of the Second Civil War. It was fought between royalist supporters of Charles I aided by a Scottish army 20,000 strong led by the Duke of Hamilton, and parliament's New Model Army under the command of Oliver Cromwell. The subsequent defeat for the royalist cause led to the execution of the king and the decleration of a republic. Despite a lack of documentary evidence, tradition has it that Broughton Tower was stormed by a band of Cromwell's troops during the battle and that Cromwell's Mound was used during this action. Frequent finds of lead musket balls and sling shot in the fields between the mound and Broughton Tower have been offered as evidence to justify this tradition. It has also been suggested that the mound may have provided Cromwell with his first vantage point from which to view the battlefield and judge the disposition of royalist and Scottish troops during the initial stages of the battle. Scheduled. |