A SCALE model of one of Teesdale’s only civil war battles took centre stage in Piercebridge at the weekend.
The 1:600 scale model was on display in St Mary’s Church at a Great Civil War Open Day and attracted a great deal of attention from visitors. It was made by craftsman Mark Hornsby, who lives in the village.
“It’s not completely accurate,” admitted Mr Hornsby. “But it gives an understanding of what went on. There were very few maps at that time, so I’ve used a variety of 18th and 19th century ones as well as an Ordnance Survey map to get the contours of the village and surrounds.”
Mr Hornsby was inspired to make the model after attending a talk given by Phil Philo, of the Battlefield Trust North East and Cumbria, at the George Hotel in Piercebridge about the 1642 battle. It took place on December 1 when 8,000 Royalist troops under the command of William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, ran into about 500 Parliamentary forces when attempting to cross the Tees at Piercebridge. After fierce fighting, the Royalists won.
The intricate model is complete with hedges, buildings and three millimetre figures showing the deployment of troops on the day of the battle. It took Mr Hornsby about 12 weeks to construct the model using a variety of materials including styrofoam and plaster but he admits he still have around another six weeks’ worth of work to perfect it.
Visitors to the open day were also provided with guided tours of the battlefield and were able to handle replica weapons from the era.
