Worcestershire in the English Civil War Worcestershire in the English Civil War Worcestershire was the county where the first battle and last battle of the English Civil War took place. The first battle, the Battle of Powick Bridge, fought on 23 September 1642, was a cavalry skirmish and a victor for the Royalists (Cavaliers). The final battle, the battle of Worcester, fought on 3 September 1651, was decisive and ended the war with a Parliamentary (Roundhead) victory and King Charles IIa wanted fugitive. During the First Civil War the county was under the control of the Royalists although many of their fortified garrisons were besieged by
English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries felt by other London businesses. When Harrington's Rota Club began to meet in another established London coffeehouse known as the Turk's Head, to debate "matters of politics and philosophy", English coffeehouse popularity began to rise. This club was also a "free and open academy unto all comers" whose raison d'être was the art of debate, characterised as "contentious but civil, learned but not didactic." According to Cowan, despite the Rota's banishment after the Restoration of the monarchy, the discursive framework they established while meeting in coffeehouses set the tone for coffeehouse conversation throughout the rest of the 17th century. English