Great Siege of Scarborough Castle

The entire west wall of Scarborough Castle's keep, as viewed from the barbican gateway, was destroyed in 1645 by artillery bombardment during the English Civil War.

The Great Siege of Scarborough Castle was a major conflict for control of one of England's most important stone fortresses during the English Civil War (1642-1651), fought between the Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians and the Royalists loyal to Charles I (reigned 1625-1649). In 1645, Parliamentary forces laid siege to the castle for five months of bombardment and bloody fighting, before its garrison finally surrendered and the last Royalist port came under Parliamentary control - a significant move in favour of Oliver Cromwell's bid to replace the monarchy with his own republican regime.

Background

The English Civil War saw Scarborough, its castle and strategic supply port on the side of Charles I, with 700 Royalist soldiers led by Sir Hugh Cholmley - who originally occupied the castle as a Parliamentarian loyal to Cromwell in September 1642, but swapped sides in March 1643. The castle was the property of the Thompson family, so Cholmley tried to purchase it while at the same time upgrading its defences. He claimed to have spent £200 on the castle while the Thompsons, who initially offered to sell it for £600, raised the price to £800 - which Cholmley was unprepared to pay. In his letters to his masters he branded them "malignant", but did not have enough local support to oust the family altogether.

Cholmley actually lost the castle in a bloodless takeover by his own cousin, Captain Browne Bushell, in March 1643 while away at York, but persuaded him to give it back. The castle changed hands seven times between 1642 and 1648, and was refortified on Cholmley's orders, including establishment of the the South Steel Battery for artillery and the procurement of lead, timber and iron from the wider region.

Royalist stronghold

Cholmley's forces made several attacks on Parliamentary targets over the next several months, moving far afield and in July 1643 even capturing the marketplace at Beverley. Despite the nuisance of Royalist pillage and kidnap, these victories were never decisive, and Parliament considered the King's south-western strongholds far more important. However, piracy would ensure that Scarborough became a priority: as a Royalist port, it was a safe haven for its captains to plunder coal ships, and it was also a place where arms were brought ashore. The supplies gained by the Royalists was the work of "pyrates" according to the London press, and "Devine power and providence" according to Sir Hugh Cholmley; but regardless of who might win the propaganda war, it remained that the supply of winter coal to London was being seriously impeded by the forces based at Scarborough Castle.

Inland, Parliament was more successful. Following the Royalist defeat at the Battle of Marston Moor and York's surrender to Parliament in July 1644, many of Cholmley's garrison deserted and the castle fell into disrepair. When Lord Fairfax's Parliamentary forces reached the edge of the town that August, Cholmley bought time to upgrade the castle defences by opening surrender negotiations, an act that would allow him to hold out for a year.

Parliamentary capture of the town

On 18th February 1645, Sir John Meldrum took the town with 1700 men and almost no casualties, cutting off any escape routes by land or sea, taking the South Steel Battery and delivering the last Royalist port for Parliament. The same day, Cholmley retreated into the castle and refused to give in, so the Parliamentarians prepared for what would be a five-month siege - one of the most bloody of the Civil War, with almost continuous fighting.

Scarborough Castle is not so effectively besieged as were necessary for the carrying of a place of so great concernment to the public... if this could also be taken there would be no place left along all the coast for the enemy to retire unto... We consider the taking in of that Castle to be of greater consequence than any inland fort whatsoever can be... Send thither what foot forces you can spare, as they could nowhere be employed to greater advantage. Order from the Committee of Both Kingdoms, 1st May 1645

Meldrum had taken the town and secured the port, but that was as far as his luck held. Parliament was less interested in the castle now that the port was theirs, and he was now forced to appeal for extra funds from other ports, raising the spectre of Royalist pirates such as Browne Bushell making devastating raids on Parliamentary supply lines. Over several weeks, the funds began to trickle through to Scarborough, allowing Meldrum the forces he needed to attempt an all-out siege, while Parliament came round to the idea that Scarborough should be prioritised above other Yorkshire sieges. They were delayed for six weeks, however, while Meldrum recovered from an astonishing fall over the cliff edge; according to Cholmley, he had been trying to retrieve his hat from the wind, though the more likely explanation is that a sudden gust blew him off the cliff. Meanwhile, the garrison had access to unlimited drinking water and stockpiled food, allowing them to effectively defend the castle for months.

The Great Siege

Fierce hand-to-hand fighting erupted around the barbican entrance to Scarborough Castle during the Great Siege of 1645.

Once Meldrum resumed command in May, the Parliamentary forces set up what was then the largest cannon in the country, the Cannon Royal, in the twelfth-century St. Mary's Church below the castle, and proceeded to fire 56-60lb (27kg) cannonballs that pounded the castle's defences. In turn, the church was extensively damaged over the three days of fighting, and is partly ruined to this day; records report that Cholmley "did great mischief to St. Mary's", though it is more likely that the Parliamentary gun blasts did more damage to a building that was already decaying. The bombardment partially destroyed the castle keep, but without the outer walls breached, the Parliamentary forces were unable to take the castle immediately afterwards, and indeed had inadvertently supplied the defenders with a large pile of rubble that was used for cover and ammunition. The Royalists moved against the artillery battery, and the Parliamentary forces retreated in some disarray. There followed a period of particularly bloody hand-to-hand fighting around the barbican gateway, where neither side took prisoners; ultimately, Sir John Meldrum was mortally wounded.

By July 1645, however, the tide was turning in the Parliamentarians' favour: Sir Matthew Boynton had replaced Meldrum, favouring cannon fire from land and sea over infantry assault. Bombardment, scurvy, lack of water, gunpowder shortages and the threat of starvation meant that the castle's surrender came on 25th July 1645, with only 25 men fit to fight. Fewer than half the original 500 defenders emerged alive, receiving a less-than-warm welcome from the townsfolk, who had endured great hardship during the siege.

Aftermath

Initially repaired and rearmed for Parliament with a company of 160 to hold the castle and man the gun batteries, the castle returned to Royalist hands when the soldiers went unpaid; Matthew Boynton, its new governor and son of the elder Boynton, declared for the King on 27th July 1648. This led to a second siege which brought the castle back under Parliamentary control on 19th December, with the garrison defeated as much by the oncoming winter as by the Parliamentary forces. Following this, the castle was to have been demolished by an order of July 1649, to prevent it being used as a Royalist stronghold, but a local outcry saved it, along with new fears that resurgent Royalist forces, aided by Frenchmen, were plotting to retake Scarborough, and the actual appearance of Dutch vessels in the harbour. Instead, it was used as a prison for those deemed enemies of the Commonwealth of England, the country's brief period of republicanism; the shell of the keep survives, minus the west wall, which was destroyed in the bombardment. The castle was returned to the Crown following the restoration of the monarchy.