THE 380th anniversary of a pivotal battle fought in Cornwall during the English Civil War is to be marked by an exhibition.

Members of In Search Of Tywardreath (ISOT), a community group dedicated to researching the past, will be hosting the exhibition about the Battle of Lostwithiel at St Andrew's Church in their village.

The battle was between Cavaliers, who supported Charles I, and Roundheads, who backed the English Parliament.

A spokesperson for the group said: “The Cornish, by and large, supported King Charles. However, Lord Robartes of Lanhydrock, in common with the town of Plymouth, was for Parliament. This was enough to ensure that Mid-Cornwall would suffer the miseries of war.

“In the summer of 1644, Plymouth, under siege from the Royalists, appealed for help. Robartes responded by calling on the Earl of Essex who came rampaging into Cornwall with 10,000 Roundheads.

“Robartes assured him that the Cornish, about to get the harvest in, would give no trouble. He was wrong and when the Parliamentarians plundered the land around Tywardreath and Lostwithiel, ransacked Menabilly and tried to blow up Lostwithiel Church tower with Royalist prisoners inside, the Cavaliers reacted as one might expect and mustered what forces they could.

“Essex, confident of victory and fortified with supplies landed at ‘the Parre’ in St Blazey, turned to face Royalist leader Hopton and his Cornish men coming up from the west. Skirmishes took place along the eastern bank of the River Fowey where the Royalists with Charles I were out in force. The Roundheads found themselves boxed into the Fowey peninsula with the river on one side and Tywardreath Bay on the other.

“In an attempt to break out, Essex headed inland. The two armies met at Braddock Down, south of the Lostwithiel-Liskeard road.”

The Royalists routed the Parliamentarians in the battle.

The spokesperson said: “Skirmishing continued on the high ground between Tywardreath and Fowey, but the Roundheads had no alternative but a fighting retreat. Essex made a final stand at Castle Dore. On August 31, the Royalists launched their assault and there was fierce fighting all that day, but the defence was in tatters, and Essex, Robartes and Sir John Merrick slipped away and found a fishing boat to take them to Plymouth. The vanquished Roundheads surrendered.

“The 6,000 prisoners, packed off to Dorset, found themselves mocked, looted, stripped of their clothes and boots, attacked and sometimes murdered.

“The countryside they left behind them as in ruins, the harvest rotting, livestock slaughtered, woods laid waste, homes plundered, Menabilly a shell. Essex was to describe his defeat as ‘the greatest blow we ever suffered’.”

The exhibition will run on Friday, August 30, and Saturday, August 31, from 10am to 4pm.