The Battle of Surbiton, 1648

Guide books about Surrey often describe the Battle of Surbiton as the last skirmish of the Civil Wars. This is hardly fair to the defenders of Colchester and Pontefract, let alone those who took part in the Preston or Worcester campaigns. Still, the battle was of some importance.

It was said by one Parliamentary officer to have been ‘as sharp a charge as ever I saw since these unhappy wars’, while its result, the complete failure of the Royalist revolt in Surrey, was described by the Earl of Lauderdale as the greatest disaster that had befallen the King’s cause. How far was this judgment of a leading Scottish nobleman strictly true?

During the first Civil War Surrey had not been notable for its Royalist sympathies. In 1642 twelve of its fourteen M.P.s declared for Parliament; its vital gunpowder mills at Chilworth were secured against the King and throughout the war it was only disturbed by occasional Royalist raids. Under the surface, however, it was very discontented.