Clyst Heath

Clyst Heath is a suburb to the south east of Exeter, Devon, to the east of Rydon Lane.

On 5 August 1549 Clyst Heath was the site of one of the worst atrocities in British history during the Prayer Book Rebellion when troops loyal to the King under the command of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford murdered nine hundred Cornish prisoners. Previously that evening Russell had pitched camp on Clyst Heath and was concerned about the burden of the large number of prisoners he had captured from previous encounters at Fenny Bridges, Woodbury Common and Clyst St Mary. Russell discussed the situation with Lord William Grey who was in charge of a thousand German mercenary landsknechts and it was Grey who gave the order for the lanzknechts to carry out the massacre. It took them just ten minutes to slit the throats of all nine hundred bound and gagged prisoners, a number that derives from John Hayward, Edward VI's own chronicler.^[1][2]

In the 1990s English Heritage refused requests for an archaeological excavation to be carried out at the site prior to the construction of the Tesco Exeter Vale supermarket.^[3]

Battle of Clyst Heath

When news of the massacre broke on 6 August 1549 some 2,000 Cornishmen made for Clyst Heath, some getting there before dawn. Others soon arrived and surrounded the heath where Russell and Grey's army was camped. The Battle of Clyst Heath was the bloodiest yet of the Prayer Book Rebellion, with the battle lasting the entire day, with heavy losses on both sides. Lord Russell's troops were finally victorious but Lord Grey was later to comment that he had "never seen the like, nor taken part in such a murderous fray". As he had led the charge against the Scots in the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, this was a telling statement.^[4]

References

1. ^ Cornish World - War of June-August 1549
2. ^ Philip Payton. (1996). Cornwall. Fowey: Alexander Associates
3. ^ Cornish World - War of June-August 1549
4. ^ Philip Payton. (1996). Cornwall. Fowey: Alexander Associates

See also

• Prayer Book Rebellion