The Cornish uprising led by An Gof and Flamank at Blackheath

On June 17, 1497 at Blackheath in Kent, the Battle of Blackheath was fought between a Cornish army and the army of England’s King Henry VII.

It was the main conflict during the first Cornish rising of 1497, which ultimately ended with St Keverne blacksmith Michael Joseph An Gof and Thomas Flamank, a lawyer from Bodmin, being hanged, drawn and quartered ten days later.

Before this grisly end, however, there was some success for the Cornish army.

They badly frightened King Henry and caused panic in London.

King Henry VII had angered the Cornish people by closing their Stannary Parliament and taxing them to pay for his war with Scotland, in which the Cornish wanted no part.

They decided they would march to London to demand an end to the taxes and gathered an army of nearly 15,000 people, led by An Gof and Flamank - an act that is remembered every year in St Keverne every June 27.

Read more: An Gof parade in St Keverne remembers Cornish rebellion

Among the names of some of the other people who joined the Cornish rising of 1497 were John Trevysall from Madron, William Antron from Antron, John Tresynny from Penryn, John Rosewarne from Rosewarne, Ralph Retallack from St Columb, Richard Borlase from St Wenn, Thomas Polgrene from Polgrene, John Allan from Stoke Climsland and William Ham from Stoke Climsland.

Fifty priests and 69 women were also involved in the rising.

The Cornish army marched all the way from Cornwall, across southern England, towards London.

News that a Cornish army was marching towards London caused great fear.

The royal family took shelter in the Tower of London and men were ordered to defend London’s gates and walls.

Noble men from across England rushed to London with their own soldiers to defend the king from the Cornish.

Before long, the king’s army had grown to 25,000 men. At the time, this was one of the largest armies ever gathered by a king of England.

The Cornish army reached Blackheath, four miles from London, on June 16. By morning, it was reduced to around 10,000 soldiers.

The An Gof procession in St Keverne last year

On the morning of Saturday, June 17, the Cornish army lined up opposite the king’s army at a bridge at Deptford Strand.

The bows and arrows used by the Cornish archers were longer and more powerful than those used by the king’s army.

The Cornish placed their archers near the bridge and killed a number of the king’s soldiers as they tried to cross.

Eventually, the king’s army got across the bridge. The Cornish had no reserve soldiers to defend the bridge and the archers moved back to join the rest of their army on Blackheath.

The king’s army was commanded by Baron Daubeney. As he led the charge up Blackheath, he was captured by Cornish soldiers, but was soon rescued by his own troops.

The Cornish army had no artillery or cavalry. Most had no experience of fighting a battle and they only had basic weapons. The king’s army was more than twice the size of the Cornish army.

Soon, the king’s soldiers surrounded the Cornish and it was clear that they could not win.

The king’s army won the battle and captured the Cornish leaders, with their army lying defeated.

Many were taken prisoner, including Michael Joseph An Gof, Thomas Flamank and Baron Audley, with the former pair executed by the king on June 27, 1497.

It is not known for certain how many were killed in the battle – perhaps as many as 2,000 Cornish soldiers and 300 of the king’s soldiers.

The king planned to send the pieces of their bodies to Cornwall as a warning to other people not to rise against him, but was too scared of how Cornish people would react.

He was right to be scared. Later that year, the Cornish rose against him again - and it was only the start of a period in Cornwall's history which saw much resistance and popular risings.

An Gof, Flamank and the Cornish who died on June 27 are remembered with plaques in Bodmin, Blackheath and St Keverne, where there is also a statue of the two leaders.

With thanks to the Cornwall Heritage Trust