Additional information
Terrain
- Tracks, field paths, stretches of road
Landscape
- High chalk downland
Dog friendliness
- Can be off lead along tracks but under control on farmland
Parking
- Car park by The Plantation north of Roundway village
Toilets en route
- None on route
About the walk
Roundway Hill forms a wide ridge of high chalk downland below the summits of Beacon Hill, King’s Play Hill and Morgan’s Hill, which rise steeply out of the Avon Valley north of Devizes. Now a peaceful scene of wide-open fields and grassy scarp slopes affording fine views towards the Cotswolds and... Salisbury Plain, this breezy, unspoilt downland once rang with the sound of battle cries. On 13 July 1643, a small Royalist army defeated the Parliamentarians in a bloody skirmish that killed more than 600 troops and saw 1,200 wounded or captured. The Lobsters It was following an indecisive battle at Lansdown near Bath that the Parliamentarian army, led by Sir William Waller, pursued a weakened Royalist army and their blinded leader Lord Hopton to Devizes where they had occupied the castle and barricaded the streets. Weary, short of ammunition and aware than an unfortified Devizes would not withstand a siege for long, Hopton sent Prince Maurice to Oxford for reinforcements. Knowing that Hopton’s cavalry were in bad shape, yet unaware that Prince Maurice had escaped from Devizes, Waller took his time in besieging the town as his troops needed rest following the Battle of Lansdown. Eventually, news that Prince Maurice and Lord Wilmot were returning to Devizes with three brigades of cavalry (2,000 men), forced Waller to rally his troops on Roundway Down. Waller sent out his cavalry, known as ‘The Lobsters’, to meet Wilmot’s brigade and it was here that the two mounted armies clashed. Wilmot’s troopers charged twice and forced the Parliamentarians west towards Oliver’s Castle. Waller’s infantry was unable to fire at the Royalists for fear of hitting their own men. Bloody Ditch The fleeing Parliamentarian cavalry, unaware of the steep scarp slope on the other side of Oliver’s Castle, was chased to the edge and forced down the slope. Many men and horses broke their necks as they plunged over the 300ft (91m) precipice. Others were killed by the newly arrived Royalist infantry who had sallied forth from Devizes on hearing a prearranged gun signal from Lord Wilmot. Since then, this combe has been known as Bloody Ditch, and skeletons and military equipment are still occasionally found here. Wilmot’s cavalry returned to attack Waller’s infantry, who fought on bravely, but seeing the 2,000 Royalist troops rising over Roundway Down from Devizes, they fled, and many were cut down by the victorious Royalists. The hill was subsequently named Runaway Hill by the Royalists, later becoming Roundway. The defeat of a superior balanced army in proper battle order by a column of cavalry that had ridden down from Oxford was regarded as a remarkable event. As a result of this loss, Waller was unable to replace the Earl of Wessex as Lord General of the Parliamentarian army. Also, with no Parliamentary forces left in the West Country, the Royalists had won an important victory. Flora and fauna on Roundway Hill The wooded area close to the walk’s start and finish point covers 68 acres (27.5ha) and includes several open grassy areas. There is also the chance to extend the main walk here by about 1 mile (1.6km), enjoying the views and admiring the chalk-loving plants and the wide variety of insects as you stroll among the trees. Butterflies, grasshoppers and bees are known to inhabit this corner of Roundway Hill. The wood is broad-leaved and was originally mostly made up of beech trees. Ash is now the predominant species here. The views are especially striking; from here you look over to the Vale of Pewsey in the east and to the northern edge of Salisbury Plain.
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