Evidence of early Civil War fight found by HS2 dig

Evidence of what could be one of the first skirmishes of the English Civil War has been found by archaeologists along the planned HS2 route.

Pistol and musket ball marks were discovered on a site in Warwickshire.

Around 200 impact marks were found on a heavily fortified medieval gatehouse of Coleshill Manor, along with more than 40 musket balls.

The "extraordinary" find will be featured on the BBC's Digging for Britain series on Sunday.

The Civil War began in August 1642 and the first recorded battle was the Battle of Curdworth Bridge, a short distance from Coleshill Manor.

Historian and presenter Professor Alice Roberts said: "The front of the gatehouse was pockmarked and had clearly been shot at with muskets - perhaps for target practice - but there's also an intriguing possibility that we're looking at evidence of the earliest skirmish of the Civil War."

She said she was "amazed" at how much of the Coleshill gatehouse still stood.

Archaeologist Stuart Pierson, from Wessex Archaeology, was commissioned to carry out the excavations for HS2, and described the discoveries as "extraordinary".

His team has now completed the excavation of the foundations of the gatehouse and he said: "These findings - not recorded in historical records - would have been lost to time had it not been for the expertise and hard work of the team."

Coleshill Manor, next to a bridge over the River Cole, was in the hands of Royalist Simon Digby as the Civil War began.

It would have been a strategic position that the Parliamentarians would have wanted to control, but records of the Civil War are confined to major battles, so many details of events are unknown.

However, historians believe it is possible a skirmish took place on the way to Curdworth Bridge.

More than 100 archaeological sites have been examined on the route of phase one of HS2's high-speed railway, which will link London and Birmingham.

Helen Wass, HS2's head of heritage, said: "Our investigations help historians weave together the complex pieces of information to increase our understanding of events."

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