Red Hill is an area of Worcester, Worcestershire, England. It is in the south-east of the city on the A44. It has historically been used as high ground to attack the city and as a place of execution.

History

Red Hill is mentioned regarding King Stephen's attack upon the city of Worcester in 1149. He burnt Worcester and expelled William de Beauchamp, but the castle against which he raised two forts at Red Hill near Digly and Henwicks Hill resisted his attacks. It was said that the remains of this fort could still be seen in 1820.''A general history of Worcester''
by John Chambers, p. 16, 1820, accessed 10 July 2008 In the 17th century, it was an area of execution. Edward Oldcorne and

Ralph Ashley Ralph Ashley (died 7 April 1606) was an English Jesuit lay-brother who became involved with the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot. He is a Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929. Life Ashley is first heard of as cook at Douay College, which he left o ...

who had been captured at nearby Hindlip Hall were

hanged, drawn and quartered To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under Edward III of England, King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the rei ...

on 7 April 1606.Alban Butler, Peter Doyle,
Lives of the Saints
'. . Holy

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s of these Jesuit priests are still revered today. The others executed were a tenant farmer named Perkes, Humphrey Littleton and John Wintour. All were executed for involvement with the

Gunpowder plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...

. Franciscan priest John Wall was executed at Red Hill on 22 August 1679 during the time of

Titus Oates Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II. Early life Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father Samuel (1610� ...

's alleged plot.Duffy, Patrick. "The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales", Catholic Ireland, 25 October 2012
/ref> The hill featured also in the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

in 1651 when it was fought over by

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

forces and

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

's forces. Cromwell used the heights of Red Hill and Perry Wood to hold his artillery and most of his troops on 29 August 1651. At the time Red Hill was just outside the city gates. The Royalist attacks on the guns were turned back because there was a Worcester spy named Guise. He was caught and hanged. Red Hill continued to be a place of execution for some time. On 16 August 1805, for instance, it is recorded that W.Dalton was executed for two counts of burglary. It was said that "His demeanour was becoming".T. C. Turberville,
Worcestershire in the Nineteenth Century
A Complete Digest of Facts Occurring in the County Since the Commencement of the Year 1800''.

References

{{Coord, 52.1813, -2.193, display=title, format=dms Geography of Worcester, England History of Worcester, England