The battle between Radway and Kineton in Warwickshire, known as Edgehill, provided the field for the English Civil War's first major confrontation.
The plodding Earl of Essex had been sent by Parliament to seek out the King's forces before they could reach critical mass and threaten London. Essex probably lost that opportunity by taking his time getting into the Midlands and finding the King's forces. The King wasn't much better in not knowing that Essex was near, until Prince Rupert's patrol stumbled across the Parliamentarian Quartermasters in nearby Wormleighton. The King decided to alight atop Edgehill, which sits about 300 feet above the plain running northwest several miles to the village of Kineton where the Parliamentarians were. Essex moved into the plain and made clear that he would not assault the King on the formidable hill. The King decided to issue battle so he gave the order to descend the hill and make contact.
As would be the case throughout the war, Prince Rupert's cavalry, on the right, would start the action and provide the King with an early advantage by driving the Roundhead cavalry from the field. However, like so many other times to come, Rupert could not control them after the initial assault and they gave chase well beyond the battlefield. Most of the cavalry of both sides was gone from the field when the infantry engagement began. With the Royalist right exposed, Essex sent some of the little remaining horse he had to attack the King's right flank. In the middle, the battle ebbed and flowed back and forth. A hole opened in the middle of the King's lines that another small Parliamentary cavalry force breached and attacked the Royalist artillery and returned to catch fire from its own artillery. A general sense of mayhem and confusion descended on the field, until dark, when both sides retired.
Poor leadership, poor execution and weak will led to a battlefield stalemate that neither side was keen to re-open the next morning. Essex slipped away to the safety of Warwick, leaving the road to London open. However, the King seemed to have lost his initial desire to move on London quickly. All in all, not satisfactory for either side, but nothing strategically significant resulted either.

Rides, Routes and Waypoints

20-30 miles, depending on the options chosen. Take the B4100 out of Banbury, taking the left hand "Y" near Warmington onto the B4086 up to Edgehill escarpment. Follow the B4086 through the battlefield from Edgehill to Kineton to simulate Rupert's advance. Continue through Kineton until you meet the B4455 and turn left and follow to the A422. Turn left on the A422 and follow this beautiful road through countryside and back onto Edgehill from the south. In between, there are multiple lanes through the battlefield, but many end abruptly at the entrance of a MOD installation nearby.
Use Ordnance Survey Landranger map 151 and the battlefield is centred on SP 360490. If using a roadmap, the battlefield is centred between the villages of Radway and Kineton, northwest of Banbury.