to have stayed in what was at that time a large house, probably
gabled, with projecting bay windows, on the north side of Bridge
Street. This mansion, for it was no less though now divided into
shops, was the town house of the Langstones, an influential family in
the neighbourhood. Here the King remained two nights, and from "our
Court at Evesham" he despatched a conciliatory message "To the Lords
and Commons of Parliament assembled at Westminster."

Sir William Waller, the Parliamentary general, was hanging in the rear
of the royal army, and so without more delay the King moved towards
Worcester, taking with him the garrison, guns, and ammunition. Before
leaving, the army partly destroyed the outworks and rendered the
bridge over the river impassable. The townspeople were evidently more
in sympathy with the Roundheads than the Cavaliers, for on the
departure of the royal forces they immediately repaired the bridge,
and Waller entered and remained some days before following the chase.

A week later the King returned, on his way back to the loyal city of
Oxford, much to the dismay of the inhabitants. For their rebellious
behaviour a fine of two hundred pounds was imposed on the borough, and
in addition to this they were forced to provide the royal army with a
thousand pairs of shoes.

A year later we find the King once more passing through Evesham. This
time he left a garrison in charge of the town under Colonel Legge. But
Evesham was too important a place in this conflict, being a connecting
link between the "loyal cities" of Worcester and Oxford, to be left in
the hands of the King's party unchallenged. Almost immediately, in the
same month of May, 1645, Colonel Massey, Governor of Gloucester, with
a troop of horse and foot collected from the neighbouring counties,