Riding down Black Jack Street

Author Cynthia Jefferies draws on the impact of the Civl War on Cirencester – and the role played by Thomas Chayne – in her latest novel

- Katie Jarvis

Cirencester, February 1643, and the English Civil War is raging. A heavy snow falls on shivering royalist troops camped overnight in Cirencester Park. They have marched over open countryside from Sudeley, determined to take this strategic, mainly Parliamentarian, Cotswold town. (With Gloucester under siege, Cirencester is the King’s only gateway to Wales.)

The following day, more than 300 people will perish in Cirencester’s oncepeaceful streets, with 1,200 prisoners held in the parish church.

This bloody episode lies at the heart of Cynthia Jefferies’ latest book, The Honourable Life of Thomas Chayne. Born and brought up in Cirencester, Cindy (as she’s more familiarly known) has long been fascinated by the history of the Civil War in the Cotswolds.

“I was 10 years old and at Querns [a former Cirencester primary] when I wrote my first play – about King Charles escaping the Battle of Worcester. All my long-suffering classmates had to take part!

“Nor will I forget, as a young adult, attending the 350th anniversary Civil War commemorations in the parish church. It was an incredibly atmospheric evening, with a talk about the prisoners who had been locked up in there. It really inspired me.”

As well as novels for adults – all written as Cynthia Jefferies – Cindy is known for her children’s Fame School series, published by Usborne.

Where do you live and why?

In Stroud, because of its alternative, arty vibe. So many of my writer friends live here, too. I’m lucky to have woodland, with foxes and deer on one side; the Slad Brook at the front; and houses and town life on the other. Wonderful.

How long have you lived in the Cotswolds?