Peaceful Now!

For the second day in a row I had to drive across the county to East Devon. I did have time today though for a walk on Woodbury Common and took this image of a small patch of silver birch trees. Although peaceful now it was once the scne of a major battle.                                                                The Battle of Woodbury Common, took place on 4 August 1549 and was part of the Prayer Book Rebellion. Basically, the King's men supported by German and Italian mercenaries were charged with defeating a large force of rebelling men from Cornwall and Devon.
An advance to relieve Exeter, which was under siege at the time, was diverted across Woodbury Common where Devon and Cornish forces defending Clyst St Mary came out to confront the larger force. There were heavy losses on both sides and the result was inconclusive but the King's army took many prisoners, 900 of whom were executed the next day in the Clyst Heath massacre.                                                                                Reading again the full account of the battle made this scene all the more poignant. Sad that even now in this "modern" age we still see the tensions between politics, power and religion being played out in bloody conflict.