⚔ Battlefields of Britain

Siege of Colchester 1648

Siege of Colchester: St Mary's Arts Centre, Colchester
Image: Alansplodge, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).

Key facts

Date12 June 1648 – 28 August 1648Wikidata
Date (year)1648Wikidata P580 start time
Century17th centuryderived
PeriodCivil Warsderived
CountryEnglandderived
War / conflictSecond English Civil WarWikidata
ParticipantsCavalier, RoundheadWikidata

About the battle

The siege of Colchester occurred in the summer of 1648 when the Second English Civil War reignited in several areas of Britain. Colchester found itself in the thick of the unrest when a Royalist army on its way through East Anglia to raise support for the King, was attacked by Lord-General Thomas Fairfax at the head of a Parliamentary force. The Parliamentarians' initial attack forced the Royalist army to retreat behind the town's walls, but they were unable to bring about victory, so they settled down to a siege. Despite the horrors of the siege, the Royalists resisted for eleven weeks and only surrendered following the defeat of the Royalist army in Northern England at the Battle of Preston (1648).

Visiting the battlefield

Location

  • Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 51.8886, 0.9036

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Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Colchester (revision 1370740308), 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

Other battles of the Second English Civil War

All battles of the Second English Civil War →

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

Further reading