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This small but picturesque spot about 3 miles west of Wareham was the site of a little known, but typically gallant skirmish on the 27th February 1644.
Francis Sydenham at the head of a 300 strong force came across a numerically inferior royalist patrol, a part of Lord Inchquins' Irish regiment. The previous week, William Sydenham had fought and routed Inchquins' men near Poole, capturing eight of them.
What followed was sadly common on both sides. William ordered that as the prisoners were 'true Irish papists', they would be given 'as much quarter as they gave the Protestants in Ireland’...He hanged them... Allowing one of their number his freedom for performing the execution of his comrades...
Obviously fearing similar treatment, the 45 Irish soldiers held the tiny bridge at Holmebridge for 5 hours without giving way. Their Lieutenant bled to death on the bridge while spurring on his men as the contest raged.
Musket balls have been found in the fields nearby and also in the stream. The road ambles over a more modern bridge today, but the original one still remains just to the right of it.
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