DRESSED in full costume, an armed force marched across Hampshire at the weekend to mark the 370th anniversary of a famous battle.

The Tillier’s Regiment of the Sealed Knot completed a 26-mile march between Basing and Bishop’s Sutton near Alresford on Saturday (March 29), to commemorate the 370th anniversary of the Battle of Cheriton in 1644.

An estimated 2,000 men were killed in what was a turning point of the English Civil War, with Cromwell’s Parliamentarian forces defeating Royalist troops.

The two-day march included an overnight stop in the village of Wield, finishing at The Ship Inn, Bishop’s Sutton, on Sunday.

The march saw re-enactors joined by Standard Bearers from the Royal British Legion at 1.30pm, when they marched the short distance to the Battle of Cheriton memorial in Dark Lane where there was a wreath laying ceremony, followed by a memorial service conducted by the Rector of Cheriton the Rev Graham Bowkett.

Around 100 people gathered as two children in periodic costume of the English Civil War lay the wreath on the memorial stone, with a one minute silence.

The event was organised by the Battle of Cheriton Project Group and is a prelude to the History Through The Ages weekend, which takes place at Scrubbs Farm, Bishop’s Sutton, on June 28-29, and promises authentic re-enactment, static displays, military encampments and demonstrations.