Many historians argue that the English Civil War began and ended at Worcester, and probably gave rise to the city's motto Civitas Fidelis - The Faithful City - because of its support of the Stuart cause.

How things looked at the time of the English Civil War - which can still be experienced today through The Commandery experience

Worcester has an unique place in English Civil War history, having seen its start with a small but bloody skirmish at Powick Bridge in 1642, and its finish with the large-scale bloodshed of the 1651 Battle of Worcester.

There's a legend that on the eve of his great victory at Worcester, Cromwell went alone into Perry Wood and ''sold his soul'' to the Devil on condition that he could emerge triumphant from the following day's conflict.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE CIVIL WAR 1640-49

* 1641 -- May 12: The Earl of Strafford, Charles's hardline minister, voted a traitor by Parliament and beheaded.

July-August; Reforms to prevent Charles raising taxes without parliamentary agreement and ensuring trial by jury.

November 22: The House of Commons (by a small majority) passed the Grand Remonstrance, a catalogue of royal misdeed and a demand for further limits to the King's power.

* 1642 -- January 5: Charles enters the Commons escorted by troops and tries unsuccessfully to arrest five leading members.

August 22: The king raises his standard at Nottingham. War is declared.

September 23: The first skirmish of the Civil War at Powick Bridge, near Worcester.

October 23: The Battle of Edgehill, Warwickshire, a narrow royalist victory.

* 1643 -- July 26: The capture of Bristol is the highpoint of the king's year.

September 25: A treaty with the Scots -- Solemn League and Covenant -- promises to bring 20,000 Scottish troops to the aid of parliament.

* 1644 -- January-March: Defeats at Nantwich, Cheshire and Cheriton Surrey, begin royalist collapse in the North Midlands and the South.

July 2: Oliver Cromwell and the Scots are victorious at Marston Moor, the largest-ever battle on British soil; more tha 40,000 troups engaged.

* 1645 -- June-July: The New Model Army heavily defeats the king's men and western armies at Naseby, Northants and Langport, Somerset.

September 24: Last remaining royalist army defeated at Rowton Moor, Chester.

* 1646 -- May 5: The king surrenders to the Scots near Newark and is taken to Newcastle.

* 1647 -- August 1: Army leaders and their allies in Parliament present their own peace terms -- known as the Heads of Proposals.

* 1648 -- March-May: Royalist rebellions in Wales, Kent and East Anglia crushed by the new Model Army.

* 1649 -- January 20; The High Court of Justice, set up by the purged Parliament, puts the king on trial.

January 30: Three days after receiving the death sentence, King Charles I is beheaded.

CIVIL WAR FACTFILE

* The English Civil War began and ended in the county

* The flood plains around Powick Bridge saw the opening skirmishes in September 1642

* A crack Royalist cavalry troop under Prince Rupert fought a Parliamentary force led by Colonel Nathaniel Fiennes

* Worcester was the headquarters of the Royalists before the final battle of the Civil War

* The Royalists were finally routed during the battle in and around Worcester in 1651

* The future Charles II escaped from the city and fled to France

* The Commandery, in Sidbury, is the only museum in the county dedicated to re-telling the stories of this time.

COMMANDERY FACTFILE

The Commandery, in Sidbury, is a medieval structure and offered haven and shelter for visitors prior to entering the city.

In 1256 six oak trees were granted for building work at The Commandery by King Henry III

It became the Hospital of St Wulstan until the Reformation in the 16th Century when it was sold to the Wylde family who used it as their country house.

At the end of the 19th Century it was a college for blind boys, becoming a printing works for most of this Century until it was bought by Worcester City Council in 1973.

It now houses the Civil War Centre.

The building, aided by audio visual presentations, has captured the atmosphere the spirit of a time when Worcester stood alone as the last bastion of the monarchy.