EARLIER this week (June 28), saw the start of the exhumations at St Lawrence's Church on Brentford High Street.

The Church was built in the 15th century and many of the people who lost their lives during the 1642 Battle of Brentford were buried there.

In memory to them, we will look back at the battle which took place in our town nearly four centuries ago.

The English Civil War between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians started in August 1642, when Charles I raised the royal standard at Nottingham.

After the Battle of Edgehill on October 23, the Royalist forces seemed split on what to do.

Some officers wanted to open peace negotiations with the Parliamentarians, while Prince Rupert wanted to march on London instead.

The King sided with the officers and peace negotiations began.

However, as the negotiations seemed inconclusive, Charles decided to march on London in order to put himself in a better negotiating position.

So on November 11, he moved his army closer to London and encamped at Colnbrook, on the edge of Middlesex.

Prince Rupert was subsequently tasked with taking Brentford, which was halfway between the King's camp and London.

Meanwhile, the Earl of Essex who was the Captain-General and Chief Commander of the Parliamentarian army, had positioned his men on the western approaches to London.

One force covered Kinston bridge, while another barricaded the then small town of Brentford, concentrating their efforts near the bridge that connected Old Brentford to New Brentford and the Bath Road (which passed Colnbrook) to London.

The next morning, on November 12, under cover of mist, Rupert's cavalry and dragoons attacked the two regiments of Parliamentary foot.

The initial attack by the cavaliers on Sir Richard Wynne's house - an outpost west of Brentford - was repulsed.

Rupert then sent a Welsh regiment of foot into action and the combined Royalist forces captured the outpost and continued their attack into Brentford itself.

They drove the men from the outpost over the bridge and into the town's defences.

These in turn were driven out of Brentford and into open fields.

The fighting continued into late afternoon, before the Parliamentary forces were able to disengage following the arrival of reinforcements from Uxbridge under the command of John Hampden.

Nevertheless, a large number of Parliamentarians died trying to escape their pursuers by swimming across the Thames.

The Royalists captured 15 guns, 11 colours and around 500 prisoners.

Following the battle, the Royalist forces sacked Brentford, which in turn encouraged the Londoners who feared for their property to side with the Parliamentarians.

The following day, on November 13, the main Parliamentary army of 24,000 men under the command of the Earl of Essex advanced to Turnham Green, where they blocked the Royalist advance into London.

Upon seeing the larger Parliamentary force, the Royalists decided to retreat back to Oxford where the army could be billeted over the winter, and with that, the first campaigning season of the Civil War was over.

It is unclear how many soldiers lost their lives that day, with sources estimating around 50 Parliamentarians being killed in action, while more drowned trying to flee.

Royalist losses on the other hand reportedly numbered around 20.