LIVING history enthusiasts have just celebrated the 376th anniversary of the English Civil War Battle of Roundway Down north of Devizes.

And they are about to re-create the siege of Marlborough which happened in November 1642 with events taking place next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, July 27 and 28.

The Battle of Roundway Down was fought on July 13 1643, during the English Civil War and proved to be one of the most decisive royalist victories in the south west of England.

A Royalist cavalry force under Lord Wilmot won a crushing victory over the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller who were besieging Devizes, which was being defended by Sir Ralph Hopton.

The battle was the most significant in the South West during the English Civil War, leaving the region open to the royal forces of King Charles I and, as a result, Bristol itself surrendered to the King two weeks later.

Author and historian Mark Turnbull, 40, who has researched the English Civil War period, said: “I have enjoyed everything English Civil War related since I became hooked at the age of 10.

“The topical point about the Battle of Roundway Down is that the Parliamentarian and Royalist commanders opposing each other were actually great friends.

"A letter written a month before the battle from one to the other is an iconic document that is very frequently used in civil war texts.

“It coined the phrase “this war without an enemy” and I also believe that their predicament is quite relevant to the whole Brexit debate which divides the nation today.”

Before the Battle of Roundway Down began, the Royal commander, Lord Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, brought three brigades of horse from Oxford - his own, Sir John Byron’s and Lord Crawford’s with a contingent commanded by Prince Maurice of Nassau comprised of 1,800 men with two small ‘galloper guns’.

Sir Ralph Hopton’s Royalist garrison defending Devizes numbered around 3,000 Cornish foot with a number of guns, while Sir William Waller’s Parliamentarian army comprised six regiments of horse comprising 2,000 men, four regiments of foot (musketeers and pike men) comprising 2,500 men and eight field guns.

Mr Turnbull, who was a member of the historical re-enactment association, the Sealed Knot, is just about to publish his first novel about the English Civil War, called Allegiance of Blood, on Kindle.

A re-enactment of the siege of Marlborough is being planned by Sir Marmaduke Rawdon’s regiment of The English Civil War Society to commemorate the event.

Events will take place from 11am-5pm in locations in Marlborough including The Priory Gardens, The Merchant’s House and The Common.