The Battle of North Walsham

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Created on 12 February 2011 09:35 | Add a comment
The Battle of North Walsham took place just south of where I live, grid reference TG 273 282.
The Battle of North Walsham happened in July 1381, as part of The Peasant's Revolt, when peasants rose up against unfair taxes and their living conditions. The Revolt was strong throughout eastern and south-eastern England. The peasants in this battle, the last major conflict of the uprising, had fled Norwich (Mousehold Heath) for Felmingham. They were caught at North Walsham heath.

Read more about the Battlefield site on the Norfolk heritage website (one of only three or five heritage battlefield sites in Norfolk, supposedly). There are more details here, and at the very bottom of this page, a picture below of the ancient stump cross (relocated under the town's water towers many decades ago), which is one of three monuments to commemorate the battle.

Below (2nd row on the left) is a picture of what the main part of the Battlefield site looks like today. There are a load of other pictures of the general area; if you cobble them together you'd get a panorama view. Nobody is too sure how many combatants there were, or how spread out the battle was (there are no witness accounts), so all of these pictures show the general area. Just south of the main picture, in the woods where you can't see that well, is a natural depression in the ground with some large boulders, where Mom suspects the peasants had their true last stand (it would have been the best position to defend). But that is not noted as the actual battlefield site.

The battlefield site is today probably part of the Westwick estate. In medieval times this was a largely a heath -- grazing area for sheep (the main source of medieval wealth was in wool, and "Walsham" is method of weaving wool). The fields today are typically planted in daffodils, grain crops, potatoes, sugar beet, animal grade maize and conifer woodland (the daffodils are often sold on the nearby busy "Norwich" road). The battlefield site is very close to the modern North Walsham-Norwich road.

My mom hopes that you appreciate that she stood on a big mound of stinky old cow manure to take those pictures.

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