Cromwell's 425th birthday marked by Civil War troops

Two Parliamentarian cavalry troops will be marking the 425th anniversary of Oliver Cromwell's birth.

The Civil War leader and Lord Protector was born on 25 April 1599 in Huntingdon.

The re-enactors will parade on horseback in the town's square, where Cromwell raised his first troop of 60 cavalry to fight for Parliament against King Charles I.

Cromwell Museum curator Stuart Orme said: "He was born and raised here and it left an indelible mark on him."

"It's significant that when war broke out it was important for him to come back to Huntingdon to raise his first troop, and it's appropriate to mark that with some of these wonderful soldiers where they were drilled and paraded in that first year of the Civil War," said Mr Orme.

"He came to recruit here, even though he was living in Ely at the time, as he knew a lot of the people in the area and the local networks."

Cromwell helped the Parliamentarian forces defeat Charles in the Civil War, which resulted in the monarch being tried and beheaded. Cromwell went on to become Lord Protector.

• Oliver Cromwell rose to prominence in the Civil Wars and played a major role in the trial and execution of Charles I
• He was vilified for the campaign in Ireland in 1649, but the accusation there were massacres of civilians is unproven
• He was the first commoner to become head of state in British history
• As Lord Protector he permitted religious tolerance - although not for Catholics
• He died peacefully in his bed at Whitehall in 1658

Source: The Cromwell Association

The museum tells Cromwell's story from his Huntingdon childhood until his death in 1658.

It is located in his former school, a medieval building once part of a pre-Reformation hospital run by the Augustinian Canons, and it has just experienced its highest visitor numbers in 25 years.

The troops will provide a guard of honour on Sunday for the town's mayor as part of a civic service at All Saints' Church being held to mark Huntingdonshire Day, which is officially on 25 April.

Cromwell's birth date was chosen for the annual celebration of the former county "because he is the most famous person in Huntingdonshire", said Mr Orme.

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