The unhappy contest between King Charles and his people first brought that Sovereign into Worcestershire in the year 1644, when he fled from Essex and Waller at Oxford. The city of Worcester presented his Majesty with £200 and the Princes Rupert and Maurice £100 each, the purse for his majesty costing 8d. (as recorded in the Corporation books), and those for the Princes 4d. each. An order had been issued to raise £1000 (equal to £15,000 of the present time) in less than two days, and the above sums were probably all that could be extracted out of the half-ruined inhabitants at that time. His Majesty retreating with his army to Bewdley, two guides for the royal carriage were engaged at a cost of 4s. 6d., and six axletrees (articles frequently requiring renewal in those days of un-M'Adam-ized roads) were charged 4s. At Bewdley, Charles wrote a letter from Tickenhill Palace to Prince Rupert, urging him to relieve York. This led to the battle of Marston Moor. The letter is given in the appendix to Guizot's History of the English Revolution. About the same time a Royal missive was addressed to the Corporation and inhabitants of Droitwich, thanking them for the assistance they had sent into Worcester when Waller assaulted it. While at Bewdley also the King dispatched a party of horse to relieve Dudley Castle, which was then besieged by the Earl of Denbigh, but they were defeated with considerable loss. Waller having now outflanked the King, his Majesty returned suddenly to Worcester, and hastened through Evesham to join the remainder of his forces at Oxford. At Evesham, he took the Mayor and certain Aldermen prisoners and carried them to Oxford; but the Royalists were closely pursued by the forces of the Parliament under Waller, and were obliged to break down the bridges behind them to make good their retreat. The Royalists also burned down many houses in the suburbs of Worcester, the better to secure the city. Between Evesham and Oxford are several memorials of his Majesty's misfortunes. In a bed-room at the White Hart inn, at Moreton-in-the-Marsh, appears the following: "When friends were few, and dangers near, King Charles found rest and safety here. KING CHARLES I slept at this inn on his way to Evesham, Tuesday, July 2, 1644."