Monarch's surprise scarper via Sussex

2:44pm Monday 16th June 2008

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Of all the famous people associated with Brighton, the one who spent the shortest time there was surely King Charles II.

Defeated by Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, Charles Stuart, as he then was, had a few hours in the town before escaping to France.

Charles evaded his pursuers for six weeks after the battle and had made a previous attempt to flee to France at Charmouth in Dorset.

The escape failed because the seamen he hired took fright.

He was accompanied by faithful follower Lord Wilmot, who sought help from loyalist Colonel Gounter of Racton in West Sussex.

Using an intermediary named Francis Mansell, the Colonel approached a man called Nicholas Tettersell, the owner of the Surprise, a small coal brig based in Shoreham.

The story Tettersell heard was that two friends had to leave the country quickly because of a duel.

The price offered to assist them was £50, a large sum in those days.

Charles, who had been hiding near Salisbury, now made his way secretly towards Shoreham and Brighton, using hidden trackways in the Downs wherever possible.

They had a narrow escape passing Arundel Castle when Charles ran into Captain Morley, a Parliamentarian governor.

Despite his striking appearance, Charles was not recognised.

Colonel Gounter went on ahead to make sure Brighton was safe and found it to be so. He stayed at an inn called The George, thought to have been in West Street.

Soon Charles arrived, along with Mansel, Tettersell and Lord Wilmot. Everyone but Charles appeared to be nervous.

Tettersell, a surly man at the best of times, looked at Charles closely and recognised him. This was not surprising since he was exceptionally tall and swarthy with a drooping mouth.

The captain complained he had not been treated fairly. The price offered was reasonable, but he had known the passenger's identity.

He added: "For he is the King and I very well know him to be so."

Tettersell reminded the company there was a reward of £1,000 for anyone who helped to discover Charles, but professed his loyalty.

He said: "I think I do God and my country good service in preserving the king, and by the grace of God I will venture my life and all for him, set him safely on shore, if I can, in France."

Tettersell raised problem after problem. He said the tide was out when it was not. He wanted the boat to be insured and asked for a bond. Then he said he had to go home first to collect some essentials which included the crew of five, a clean shirt and a bottle of brandy.

The King and Wilmot snatched a fitful sleep before being woken at 2am by the sound of horses to take them by night to Shoreham.

They said farewell to Gounter and Mansell, setting sail before the sun rose. Gounter kept his eye on the brig as she headed west to avoid suspicion and lost her when she eventually turned south.

Helped by a favourable wind, the Surprise made Fecamp, Normandy, the next day and Charles went ashore in a little boat. It was just in time, as a squall blew so suddenly and severely that Tettersell had to cut the cable and lost his anchor.

He claimed compensation for that.

Gounter heard later soldiers had arrived less than two hours after their departure from Brighton searching for the monarch.

After the Restoration nine years later, Tettersell sailed his ship up the Thames and renamed her The Royal Escape so no one would be in any doubt of the role he had played.

He was given a post in the Navy and awarded a pension. Mansell, who later moved to Ovingdean, and Gounter were also rewarded.

Tettersell was dismissed from the Navy in 1667 for misconduct.

He became High Constable of Brighton and spent much time persecuting Quakers and other minorities.

He used the money he had been given to buy an inn which still exists today as the Old Ship Hotel in King's Road, although much altered and extended.

Tettersell died in 1674 and was buried in the grounds of St Nicholas Church in Dyke Road. A fulsome inscription was carved on his headstone.

Part of it read: "When Charles The Great was nothing but a breath/ This valiant soul stepped between him and death."

The Royal Escape was moored in the Thames for many years for people to see but was later moved downstream as the monarch's popularity declined.

She was eventually taken to the naval dockyard at Deptford and broken up for firewood in 1791 - a pity, for she would have been a fine museum piece today.

The Royal Escape yacht race was established to commemorate the event and the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath from Worcester to Shoreham follows the convoluted 610-mile route the King took all those years ago.