This cannonball would have been fired from a saker, a type of cannon which was heavily used during the English Civil War (1642-51). It is a solid iron shot, intended to kill or injure upon impact, it did not explode. Both Parliamentarian and Royalist armies at the Battle of Naseby had eight sakers each, but they were little used and artillery in general had varying success throughout the Civil War. The outcome of the First English Civil War (1642-46) was decided at the Battle of Naseby. The New Model Army defeated Charles I, and although the monarchy was restored in 1660, the institution of absolute monarchy died with his execution in 1649.
At Naseby, King Charles I commanded an army of 10,000 men and Sir Thomas Fairfax led 12,000 men from Parliament’s New Model Army. Both armies included thousands of cavalry (soldiers on horseback), commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine and Lieutenant-General Oliver Cromwell respectively. The armies met on 14 June 1645, on opposite sides of a shallow valley in a field just north of Naseby. The Royalists were defeated, with 1000 men killed and a further 5000 captured. Although King Charles and Prince Rupert escaped, they were unable to regain their losses and eventually surrendered to the Parliamentarians.
Number 55 of the objects selected for the A History of Northamptonshire in 100 Objects exhibition 2025.
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