Royalist and Parliamentarian cavalry fought south of Worcester on 23 September 1642 in one of the first military encounters between the main field armies of the English Civil War.

The immediate issue was a Royalist convoy. Sir John Byron was taking money and silver plate from Oxford towards King Charles I’s army at Shrewsbury when the approach of Parliamentarian forces led him to take refuge in Worcester. Prince Rupert was sent with mounted troops to protect the convoy. Parliamentarian cavalry and dragoons under Colonel John Brown moved to intercept it.

Each force numbered about 1,000 men. On the afternoon of 23 September, the Parliamentarians approached Worcester from the south through narrow lanes. Their arrival alerted the Royalists. Royalist dragoons opened fire as the Parliamentarian troops emerged, then Rupert’s cavalry charged.

Most of the Parliamentarian cavalry broke and fled. Brown’s dragoons covered their retreat at Powick Bridge while Rupert pursued the fleeing horse as far as Powick village. The retreat continued for miles and alarmed part of Parliament’s main army.

The Royalists did not try to hold Worcester. Byron’s convoy left safely under Rupert’s protection, while the main Parliamentarian army entered the city the following day.

Powick Bridge was small compared with the battles that followed. The larger Battle of Edgehill was still a month away, and the armies of King and Parliament were only beginning to fight each other in the field.