ENGLISH Civil War re-enactors in Plymouth have marked the 365th anniversary of one of the war's most significant battles.

The Battle of Freedom Fields, also known as the Sabbath Day Fight, was won by the outnumbered Parliamentarians.

Sealed Knot re-enactors were among a crowd of more than 100 marking the occasion, while the Old Suttonians laid a wreath at a memorial in the park.

The battle on December 3, 1643 was lost when the Royalists allowed the Parliamentary forces to re-group while they waited for reinforcements.

The Royalists were driven back down Lipson Hill for the loss of a dozen Parliamentarian lives.

Their victory meant a vital port – the only South West Parliamentarian stronghold – was kept open, possibly changing the whole course of the war, and English history.

About 600 people – a tenth of Plymouth's population at the time – died in two months of skirmishing.

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