Marston Moor is the site of the largest battle ever fought on British soil and considered by some historians to be the second most decisive battle of the English Civil War.   50,000 people took part in the Battle with the Royalist lines stretching for over two miles and the Parliamentarians for one-and-a-half miles.   The Battle started at about 7.30 pm and lasted approximately two hours.   The Parliamentarians, who were the victors, plundered the battlefield until about midnight.

 

The Rector of All Saints' Church at the time was Mark Micklethwaite.   Mark and his brothers Elias and Joseph were at Cambridge at the same time as Oliver Cromwell.   Mark was a Royalist but Elias fought on the side of the Parliamentarians commanding a Troop of Horse under the command of Lord Fairfax.   He died of his wounds a few days after the battle.   There is no record of where he was buried but it is presumed that he is in the Churchyard in an unmarked grave.