Silk waist sash worn by William of Orange’s flag bearer at Torbay, 1688

During the ‘Glorious Revolution’, William landed at Brixham on 15 November 1688, having been invited to take the throne by opponents of King James II. William believed his 14,000 veterans could defeat any force that James could throw at him, but decided to avoid the hazards of battle and maintain a defensive attitude in the hope that James’s position might collapse by itself.

This indeed happened, with hardly a shot fired in anger. James had around 30,000 soldiers in southern England, but they either dispersed, sat out the crisis in their garrisons or drifted over to William’s side. James fled into exile with his few remaining loyal soldiers.