Henry FitzEmpress besieged Malmesbury Castle in early 1153 at the start of his final campaign. Stephen marched to relieve it but heavy flooding of the Avon prevented battle and his forces refused to fight. Henry took the castle. The episode showed how the civil war was becoming untenable for both sides, contributing to peace negotiations.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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