A note on the effects of the Civil War on Eton Wick

All over the country the Civil War brought an end to the wave of rebuilding and modernisation. Being so near Windsor the villagers must have been very much aware of the fighting, for the Castle was occupied by the Parliamentary forces and the Model Army used the Home Park for training. The secret burial of the executed Charles I took place one winter's day in 1649 at Windsor. The next year Cromwell's Commissioners were surveying the estates of the late king and questioning the tenants. The collegiate and parish church of Eton became known for the first time as the Chapel and in company with the other English churches was compelled to follow the puritan form of worship. For several years no children were baptised and marriage banns were proclaimed at the nearest market place.

This is an extract from The Story of a Village: Eton Wick 1217 to 1977 by Judith Hunter. 

You can read more about how the English Civil War and the Commonwealth effected Eton College in the Eton College and the Civil War page of the College website. 

A chapter of Old Days of Eton Parish by The Reverent John Shepard MA is devoted to Eton during the Commonwealth and can be read here.