With the arrival of Irish forces (somewhat) loyal to the King in late 1643, the Royalists had developed a strong footing in the northwest of England and were besieging the strategically important town of Nantwich. The Royalist commander Lord Byron decided to complete his conquest of Cheshire by quickly capturing Nantwich, which was being defended by Parliamentarian Sir William Brereton. However, the Parliamentarian Sir Thomas Fairfax had other plans. Showing his grasp of the whole war and not just that of his eastern England locality, Fairfax pulled together his disparate forces around Lincolnshire and marched to the relief of Nantwich. The two forces met near the present day Shropshire Union Canal on the close, flat pastures to the west of Nantwich.
Having deployed tightly coming out of Nantwich, Fairfax had to fight on each flank to open up space for his cavalry. On the other hand, Byron, converging on Nantwich, had to deal with over-extension. One has to imagine an inner concentric arc pushing against an outer concentric arc to understand the tension between the two forces. Fairfax was able to hold both flanks as his centre made the advance into Byron*s centre who were unsupported by their flanks due to the over-extension. Eventually, the Royalist centre cleaved in two and flanked away in opposing directions. This saved the left side, but doomed the right which fell back near Acton church.
Things went from bad to worse for Byron, as the blocking force meant to hold the Nantwich Roundhead forces at bay, failed. These Parliamentary forces proceeded to attack the Royalist baggage train near Acton church and the Royalist right flank near the present day Acton Bridge (footbridge) over the canal. In the melee, the Royalist lost many, but many more surrendered, including whole Irish regiments who felt they had been tricked into coming to England to fight for the King.
Nantwich was a clear win for the Parliamentary forces, having relieved the siege, captured the Royalist baggage train and not a few senior officers. Strategically, it kept the centre of England in play and established Fairfax as a Parliamentarian commander of national stature.

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Motorcycle Ride

Try this circular ride from Nantwich to Whitchurch and back

Map

The English Civil War was fought between 1642 to 1648 across England. Below are links to 12 battles in 10 English counties;

• King Charles Issues an Indictment against the Five Members of Parliament 3 January 1642
• King Charles I Flees London After Failing to Arrest the Five Members 10 January 1642
• Battle of Edgehill
• Sir Thomas Fairfax Defeats Sir William Saville and Takes Leeds 23 January 1643
• Battle of Chalgrove
• Battle of Lansdown Hill
• Battle of Roundway Down
• First Battle of Newbury
• Battle of Nantwich
• Battle of Cheriton
• Battle of Cropredy Bridge
• Battle of Marston Moor
• Cromwell Delivers at Battle of Naseby 14 June 1645
• Battle of Langport
• Battle of Stow on the Wold