at Pixham Ferry. The forces of Prince Rupert beat them at the Battle of Powick Bridge on Powick Ham, and many of the fugitives re-crossed the river at Kempsey. However, Green writes that the victory went to the Roundheads, and that Prince Rupert was forced to flee. Kempsey was raided on 2 July 1646, in an attempt to capture a Colonel Betsworth in his quarters. He was forewarned and eluded capture. According to Rev. Purton, "During the siege of Worcester in 1646, a squadron of 400 dragoons, under Colonel Betsworth, was quartered at Kempsey and on 2 July an attempt was made by the garrison to seize him there, which was unsuccessful." John Noake speaks of a tradition then current in the parish that Cromwell "personally superintended the battering down of the old church, and flattened the nose of every statue then and there lying." There are bullet marks of the south side of the Church tower. Victorian era Wrecking of the Revolutionary Elm "In June on Whitsunday afternoon 1897 "The Revolutionary Elm" was wrecked by a sudden storm. It was probably the last of the trees planted to celebrate the events of 1688." Note: this was the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9, when the catholic King James II fled and the Protestant William of Orange (husband of the King's elder daughter Mary) was invited by parliament to be King William III of England. Notable people Richard Moon (1814–1899) Chairman of the London and North Western Railway from June 1861 until he retired on 22 February 1891 lived in Kempsey from 1847 to 1848. In 1918 Lieutenant Robert Vaughan Gorle of Napleton (an area of Kempsey parish) won the Victoria Cross on 1 October. The composer Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934), lived in Kempsey from April 1923 to October 1927. Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet and his son, Richard Carnac Temple, both owned "The Nash", an estate near to Kempsey. The latter sold it in 1926 because of ill-health and financial difficulties. References Sources External links British History Online An old parish map on Worcestershire County Council web site www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Kempsey and surrounding area www.kempseyhub.co.uk : News, pictures and information about Kempsey Villages in Worcestershire Populated places on the River Severn