Paul Harding on time Ombersley was a Civil War battleground

WE must remember that in 1651 there was nothing Faithful about Worcester. Today we usually put the word ‘Faithful’ in front of ‘Worcester’ as if it was a title gifted to the city by King Charles II.

The term ‘Fidelis’ or ‘Faithful’ was used to cover up the fact that Worcester decided (like most of England) to see the Royalists as a ‘Scotch Invasion’ that would bring death and destruction to the land.

Life, trade and commerce took a long time to recover following the earlier phases of the war.

The Royalist garrison in Worcester surrendered in 1646 to the rejoicing of local people. It had endured a siege whereby houses were damaged, citizens killed and disease was commonplace.

One of the most vivid accounts talks about the city bakers who were flogged when they refused to bake bread for the Royalist garrison. Another tells of a woman who opened the city gates to speed up the city’s surrender.

The lanes in Ombersley where the Worcester Militia engaged the Scots

Charles Stuart landed in Scotland with an ambition to restore the monarchy. However his army was defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, and with the victorious Parliament army occupying the land, Charles decided to flee Scotland for London a year later.

This Scottish army left Stirling on July 31 1651 and began a hot and exhaustive march into England. A large number of Parliament soldiers did the same distance, with the Pennines dividing the armies for much of the march south.

Read more: Cannon rained down death of Worcester

The Council of State, which governed the country after the monarchy came to an end, ordered the militias to muster for the defence of the country. A similar muster was called in 1588, when the Spanish Armada was sighted.

The Worcester militia rose to the challenge and began preparing for the Scots.

The main road in Ombersley down which the Scottish army would have come

Partially levelled defences were hastily restored and Colonel John James and Captain Andrew Yarranton mustered around 500 men on Pitchcroft meadow.

On August 21 1651 the Scots had been sighted moving through the countryside around Kidderminster and Hartlebury. General Harrison asked the militia to hold up the Scots until Cromwell arrived.

This moment is recorded by the city – "did what we could to strengthen the walls… in the expectation of assistance from the Major General according to his promises".

The militia began to engage with the advance party of the Scots and withdrew hedge by hedge, lane by lane. Meanwhile the mayor called an emergency meeting to decide on the best course of action.

The meeting included the Commander of the Militia and Aldermen. It was a heated debated that looked at allowing the Scots to rest in the city, in the hope that they would move on within 24 hours. Many wanted to follow Cromwell’s orders to slow the Royalist advance.

At dawn on August 22 an exodus of citizens would have poured out of the city to safety. The militia, which had checked the Royalist progress through Hartlebury, was now meeting up with the men in Ombersley.

A running fight ensued all the way to the city walls. Despite some reinforcements turning up, the garrison decide to withdraw to Gloucester. As they left they tried to destroy the defences and take with them arms and ammunition to prevent them falling into enemy hands.

The city gates were eventually opened to the Scots that evening, with Charles staying at White Ladies to enter the city and meet with the Mayor the next morning.

The county militia would go onto liberate their city on September 3 1651.

Not quite the Faithful City we all talk about.