BattlefieldsAction at Swarkestone Bridge 1643
English Civil War

Action at Swarkestone Bridge 1643

1643
Derbyshire, England
Also known as: Swarkestone Bridge Skirmish · Trent Crossing at Swarkestone
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Derbyshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Royalists
Forces
Royalist forces from Lichfield or Newark
VS
Victor
Parliamentarians (Gell)
Forces
Parliamentary Derbyshire cavalry
Outcome
Trent crossing at Swarkestone held for Parliament; Derby secure
The Battle

History & Significance

Swarkestone Bridge — at the time one of the longest stone bridges in England, spanning the Trent flood plain south of Derby — was a strategic prize in the Derbyshire Civil War. Parliamentary forces under Sir John Gell maintained control of the bridge, preventing easy Royalist movement from Nottinghamshire into Derbyshire. The bridge gained its most famous historical association a century later when Bonnie Prince Charlie's Highland army turned back here in 1745 — the furthest south the Jacobite army reached on English soil.

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