Peace and War : Friends Study Day
Proposed Visit to Thornby Hall and Naseby Battlefield Tour.
Saturday 5th April 2025.
1. Visit to Thornby Hall.
Thornby Hall was built in the late 17th century and remodeled in the early 20th century by Charles Mardaunt for the Wills family. Between 1985 and 2016 the house served as Thornby Hall School, a special care residential home for children and adolescents that was part of Childhood First charity. Since 2017 it has been the Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Centre.
2. The Naseby Battlefield Tour.
The Battle of Naseby took place on 14 June 1645 during the First English Civil War, near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. The Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, destroyed the main Royalist army under Charles I and Prince Rupert. The defeat ended any real hope of royalist victory, although Charles did not finally surrender until May 1646.
The tour will begin at Naseby Village Hall for an introduction to the Naseby Battlefield Project team with strategy, scene setting and background for the tour, before moving on to view the battlefield under the direction of Brig David Russell-Parsons for a tour which takes approximately 3 hours.
David Russell-Parsons is a volunteer of The Naseby Battlefield Project, retired soldier, full time civil servant in Whitehall, and a keen amateur historian who lives locally and has interests in both Armies which fought at Naseby.
