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The Battle Beside the Trent
An incident of great interest took place in
the parish in 1403. Disputes had arisen over
the years between the Mavesyns and the
Handsacres, whose lands were divided by the
natural boundary of the Trent. The following
description of the affray is based on the
account given in Dent and Hills, Historic
Staffordshire:
‘As early as 1382 Robert
Mavesyn had leased to John Hammond,
fisherman, his fishery in the Trent at
Bryggewater, between Handsacre and the
Oxonholme Pool, and the miller, one Robert
Mulner, got into dispute as to the boundary
of the two parishes at the mill dam and
floodgates. The dispute resulted in a feud
and an affray, ending in a riot, in which
the mill was burnt and Lawrence de Frodesley,
of the Handsacre party was killed by the
Mavesyns.’
This local disagreement was heightened by
the political situation of the time when
King Henry IV was defending his crown
against Henry Hotspur and his father, Henry
Percy, the Earl of Northumberland. Both
parties were calling supporters to arms: the
King at Burton and Percy at Shrewsbury where
he was to join forces with Owen Glendower,
the Prince of Wales. Mavesyn supported the
King, while Handsacre supported Hotspur.
‘Such was the state of
affairs when Mavesyn and Handsacre assembled
their little bands of tenantry , bowmen,
billmen and horsemen, according to their
degree. The muster was a hasty one.
Mavesyn’s object was to reach the King at
Burton, or join him on his march;
Handsacre’s to meet Percy’s forces coming
from the north…the fight took place… The
result was that Sir William Handsacre was
killed. A few days after this skirmish Sir
Robert Mavesyn was killed at the Battle of
Shrewsbury.’
The next generation however seemed to make
their peace as Sir Robert’s daughter
Margaret married William, the son and heir
of the Handsacre knight. The tomb of
Margaret Woodford, the grand-daughter of Sir
Robert Mavesyn and Sir William Handsacre is
in the Chapel of the church.
 The fight traditionally took place in a
meadow just above High Bridge, in fact the
actual spot used to be pointed out, and was
hard by two very ancient oak trees,
popularly known as Gog and Magog. The sketch
shows their massive appearance as late as
1896, but by 1920 they were blackened hulls
and they finally disappeared in 1921 when
they were broken up and carried away during
the long coal strike of that year.
In 1995, Tom Adams was metal detecting in
soil that had been disturbed when gas pipes
were being laid to bring gas into the
village. He found two coins, a few inches
below the ground, in Church Lane that he
took to Birmingham Museum to be dated. One
was a silver penny of the Archbishop of
York’s mint and is thus dated between 1413
and 1422. The other is a contemporary
forgery of a copper halfpenny of George III,
dated 1775.
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