St John the Baptist Boylestone In May 1644 during the English Civil War, Col. John Eyre, a royalist, was taking his regiment of 200 men to relieve a seige. Arriving in Boylestone late in the evening he decided to use the church as a billet for the night - some suggest that he had lost his way. It seems in any case that he was not the wisest of military men. He failed to post a single sentry. During the night a Parliamentarian commander, Major Saunders, happened to be passing through the area with a troop of 100 cavalry. The church was surrounded just before dawn and the royalists were told that the church would be fired unless the royalists surrendered immediately. The cavaliers filed out one at a time through the chancel door surrendering themselves, their arms and their colours