Summary. March 1646, a large Parliamentarian army besieged 800 Royalists and tried to starve them. On 6th May, they bombarded The Close for five days using heavy cannon mounted on earth banks. The Royalists surrendered on 16th July.
On 5 May 1646, at Newark King Charles I gave himself up to the Scots army thinking he was safe. Some thought the Royalist cause was now almost lost and any new battle seemed unnecessary. For Lichfield it led to the worst siege in the war.[1]
Early in March 1646, Sir William
Brereton, commander of the Parliamentarian forces in the North Midlands arrived
in Lichfield with an army drawn from several Counties. It is unclear how many
troops he commanded, one source said 3,000. He thought there were 1000 Royalists
(in fact 700-800) besieged in the Close.
On entry to the town, a skirmish led to three deaths. Brereton now believed
time was on his side and the tactic was to slowly starve The Close into
submission. He was clearly unaware of the preparations by the Royalists for a
long siege, including gun positions on the central tower. Early on, the water
supply to the Close was cut off, but this made no difference because of wells in
the Close.
The next move was to surround the
Close with earth fortifications. He built four or five earth mounts and placed heavy
cannon on top so they could fire directly over the fortress walls. The number
and location of these mounts have been queried. There was a mount on the north
side, known as the ‘Gloucester Mount’, being guarded by men from
Gloucestershire. It could have been on Prince Rupert’s Mound, where archaeology
has found a rectangular platform, 17 m x 12 m, and in 1997, a quantity of
musket balls and a fragment of iron mortar shell. Almost certainly, a mount was
constructed in Dam Street, and another at the southwest corner. Placing them in
Beacon Park, where Brereton was camped, has been suggested, but it seems too
far away. Added to this, an earth bank was erected connecting Stowe Pool round
to Beacon (Bacun) Street and northwards. If this barrier was similar to those done
elsewhere it would have sharpened staves pointing to the close and deterring
cavalry charges. In a letter, Brereton claimed there were three mounts now
built along Beacon Street manned with 700 troops from Cheshire. Strangely,
recent examination of the central tower shows cannon and musket damage on the
north, south and east sides with little on the west side facing Beacon Street. Perhaps
the cannon firing from Beacon Street mounts struck the front of the cathedral
and this left the cannon on the other mounts to target the middle tower and
spire. The Close was now encircled by a formidable earth barrier mounted with
cannon.[2]
A reconstruction of the redoubts and bulwarks constructed by
Brereton. See the post, ‘Fortress cathedral, 1640’ for the best idea of the
layout of the fortification before the earth mounds were built.
Defiantly, Major-General Thomas Tyldesley led
Royalist cavalry in a charge from the west gate and burnt down some houses in
Beacon Street, that were providing cover.
AI gen. of the Cavalry charge.
Brereton could do little since he was waiting
for a supply of gunpowder. On the 13th April, Brereton gave an ultimatum to
Tyldesley to surrender on the grounds they were hopelessly positioned, but it
was declined. It was also answered on the day with a sally out of the Close,
resulting in killing 30 and taking 50 prisoners.
On the 28th April, a soldier
escaped from the Close and was captured and interrogated. He let go food
supplies in the Close were still sufficient, but ammunition was low. He also
revealed a trench was dug out from the Close so that troops could secretly
leave and attack the mounts on the north side. Much of this seems deliberate
deception. However, fodder for horses was low, so the gate was opened and
horses made to leave.
On 6th May, Brereton finally
received a ‘tunne’ of powder, equal
to 60 barrels,[3]
and began an intense 5-day bombardment of the Close and Cathedral from his
raised cannon platforms. The 30lb cannon balls were fired from demi-cannons.
30lb
demi-cannon
AI firing
from an earth mount
The particular target was the
central tower where it was mistakenly thought the leaders and their families
were sheltering, where the gunpowder was said to be stored and from where snipers
were positioned. It was also provocatively adorned with many royalist flags and
red sashes. On the 5th day, 11am on12th May, the central spire came down
bringing two floors of the tower, the roof of a side chapel on the south side and
some part of the choir.[4] Clifton stated the central spire fell in ruins
over the chapterhouse and choir, that is north-eastwards.[5] Rodwell,
after examination of damaged parapets and buttresses above the south choir
aisle, said it was clear the spire fell south-eastwards.[6] About 2 m of the bottom of the central
spire on the three western faces had original masonry which again suggested a south-eastern
collapse. It supported the idea of the cannon ball being fired from the Dam
Street direction and undermining the southeast arch (squinch) of the spire. This
might have led to the nave roof to collapse, or more likely this roof was
brought down in a separate bombardment. It is unknown how many were killed, but
it must have included soldiers and their families.
Lichfield and cathedral, 1643, from a drawing by W. Dugdale, Ashmole MS 1521, and reprinted J. Hewitt, 1874.[7] The drawing shows damage to the central spire but is dated 1643 not 1646. Consequently, it does not show the loss of roof in the nave and omits the southern wall with abutted houses.
Imagined view of the
southern wall showing backs of houses and the central tower downed.
The Parliamentarians believed
this would be the end of the siege, but to Brereton’s disappointment, it did
not lead to surrender. Another captured soldier revealed the Close was not
about to capitulate. Indeed, grenadoes continued to be lobbed into the Close with
a mortar. When the Royalists were given terms of surrender, they replied
excoriating the Parliamentarians for defacing the cathedral and making the
besiegers into would-be martyrs. In fact, the siege lasted another two months,
continuing even after Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Tutbury, Ashby, Worcester and Oxford
had fallen (only Worcester and Pendennis were left). It was only after a letter
came from King Charles I, ordering surrender that 85 officers and 700 soldiers
marched into Beacon Street and handed over their small arms (800 muskets and
100 cases of pistols) on 16th July. Also surrendering were 21 gentlemen, 4
clerks of which two were canons and 5 city magistrates. There would also have
been wives and children.
Altogether, it has been estimated
2-3000 cannon balls and 1500 grenadoes were used in the three sieges. On 21st
July, the war in England ended and Parliament turned it into a National Day. In
October, the new Parliament abolished the office of a bishop.[8]
[1]
Added to this was the return of plague (in 1593-94 it had killed 1,100); in
1646, 821 died out of a population of 3000.
[2]
A plaque in Lichfield suggests the heavy cannon were hauled to the top of the
mount by a train of horses.
[3]
The wall in the north-west corner was blown apart in the second siege with a
tunnel containing five barrels of gunpowder. A bombardment for five days with
60 barrels of gunpowder available might give some indication of the intensity
of battle and extent of damage caused to the cathedral.
[4]
Strangely, there are accounts with the spire falling in the first siege. See W.
Gresley, The siege of Lichfield: A tale illustrative of the Great Rebellion.
(London: 1840) and A. B. Clifton, The cathedral church of Lichfield. (London:
1900), George Bell and Sons. This is odd with Brereton describing the event in
a letter detailing the third siege.
[5]
Ibid Clifton (1900), 22.
[6]
W. Rodwell private letter dated 10 October 1987 titled ‘The high vaults of
Lichfield Cathedral’ and deposited in the cathedral archive.
[7]
J. Hewitt, ‘Lichfield Cathedral Close and its sieges’. Archaeological J. (1874),
31, 1, 327–336.
[8]
Much of this post has been guided by H. Clayton, ‘Loyal and Ancient City. The
Civil War in Lichfield’. (Lichfield, self-published: 1987).
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