King Henry met them near Shrewsbury, where a fierce battle took place. The Cheshire archers fought with great bravery, and even routed a portion of the king's army. But they were gradually overcome by the more numerous royal forces, and Henry's victory was complete. Hotspur himself was killed, and among the slain were 'the most part of the knights and squires of the county of Chester'. After the battle, the baron of Kinderton, Sir Richard Venables, was executed, and his estates given to his brother, a supporter of the king.
The ancient yew-trees in many of the churchyards of Cheshire will remind you of the sturdy bowmen who overthrew the mail-clad mounted men of France at the battles of Crecy and Poitiers. The big yew in the churchyard of Farndon must have been of great age, even in the days when Richard's archers cut their bows from its tough and pliant boughs.
The bow was made in England, in England, Of true wood, of yew wood, the wood of English bows: So men who are free Love the old yew tree And the land where the yew tree grows.
In order to encourage archery among workmen and labourers, Richard forbade the playing of football, tennis, and the like, under penalty of fine or imprisonment. Among the town-laws of Chester was one which compelled all children of six years old and upwards to be taught the use of the bow and arrow, both 'for the avoiding of idleness' and for service 'in the ancient defence of the kingdom'. Every Easter Monday the two sheriffs chose teams of archers, and shot a match on the Roodee, the prize being a breakfast or dinner of calves' heads and bacon, in which the Mayor and Aldermen also took part. When a man of any well-to-do family married in Chester, he was expected to give a silver arrow in the following year as a prize for archery.
Some of the knights who returned from the French wars found their old homes burnt or destroyed by marauding Welshmen during their absence. The castles which they built for their protection were built of stone, and portions strongly fortified. The massive tower or keep of Doddington is crowned with a battlement and four square corner turrets; the windows are mere slits in the walls. Brimstage Tower in Wirral was built in 1398 by Sir Hugh de Hulse. The parapet or gallery is 'machicolated', that is to say it projects beyond the walls of the tower, so that molten metal might be poured through holes in the parapet upon an attacking force below.