⚔ Battlefields of Britain

Great Siege of Scarborough Castle 1645

Great Siege of Scarborough Castle: Scarborough Castle
Image: Humphrey Bolton, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).

Key facts

Date (year)1645Wikidata P580 start time
Century17th centuryderived
PeriodCivil Warsderived
CountryEnglandderived
ParticipantsCavalier, RoundheadWikidata

About the battle

The Great Siege of Scarborough Castle was a major conflict for control of one of England's most important stone fortresses during the First English Civil War fought between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists loyal to King Charles I. In February 1645, Parliamentarians laid siege to Scarborough Castle. For five months, they bombarded it, destroying most of the keep, and engaged in bloody fighting before the defenders finally surrendered.

This was a significant though not permanent victory. There was a second, far less bloody and destructive, siege later in 1648 when the new garrison switched sides. The castle finally came under Parliamentarian control in 1649, and remained so until the Restoration (1660). (The castle actually changed hands seven times between 1642 and 1648.)

Visiting the battlefield

Location

  • Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 54.2870, -0.3880

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Directions (Google Maps) OpenStreetMap

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Great Siege of Scarborough Castle (revision 1370621822), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations removed. No text added.

Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).

Nearby battlefields

Browse more: battles in Yorkshire · battles in England · Civil Wars · 17th century battles

Further reading