The Battle of Billericay took place on 28 June 1381 when the boy

King Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father d ...

's soldiers defeated the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

rebels adjacent to a wood north-east of

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon, Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and constitutes a commuter town east of Central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces. It i ...

, part of the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...

. This is likely to have been

Norsey Wood Norsey Wood is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Billericay, Essex. It is also a Local Nature Reserve and a Scheduled Monument. The site is ancient oak woodland on acid soil which has been converted to mixed sweet chestnut ...

, which maps of 1593 show to cover the same extent as in the early 20th century. After the murder of Wat Tyler and dispersal of the main rebel army, a summons was sent out in Essex for a mobilisation of rebels at Great Baddow and Rettendon, at threat of arson. Hundreds met and gathered in North-East Billericay on the 27th of June, digging trenches and chaining carts together. The King's forces were led by Thomas of Woodstock, the Earl of Buckingham and Sir Thomas Percy. They charged the defensive line as broke it, as the rebels struggled to form a defensive line. Some stayed behind and formed a Saxon fighting ring, as many ran and fled into the woods itself. It is thought that 500 Essex men were killed and buried at

Great Burstead Great Burstead is an urban settlement in Essex, England - it is contiguous with the town of Billericay. History By tradition, the origins of the church, St Mary Magdalene, at Great Burstead are linked to Saint Cedd (d.664). Cedd, a missionary m ...

churchyard, and 800 horses were captured. The few survivors who didn't desert tried in vain to rally the people of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

to fight, and then to Sudbury, only to find hostile Royal forces. The last survivors then made their way to Huntingdon before making a last stand at Ramsey Abbey where 25 were slain and the remainder became outlaws. The details comprising this overview have been summarised from a piece written for the Norsey Wood Society newsletter by Billericay historian Julian Whybrahttps://web.archive.org/web/20160304033428/http://www.norseywood.org.uk/society/newsletter/130_Norsey_Wood_Newsletter_Summer_10.pdf His ultimate sources were the Westminster Chronicle attributed to

Robert of Reading The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, and the ''Historia Anglicana'' by Thomas Walsingham.

References

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1381 in England Peasants' Revolt Billericay