Siege of Reading 1642
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Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date | 4 November 1642 – 25 April 1643 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Date (year) | 1642 | Wikidata P580 start time |
| Century | 17th century | derived |
| Period | Civil Wars | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | First English Civil War | Wikidata |
| Participants | Cavalier, Roundhead | Wikidata |
About the battle
The siege of Reading was an eleven-day blockade of Reading, Berkshire during the First English Civil War. Reading had been garrisoned by 3,000 Royalist troops under Sir Arthur Aston in November 1642. On 14 April 1643, Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex led a Parliamentarian army of 19,000 troops to lay siege to the town, and began bombarding it two days later.
During the siege, Aston was wounded and command of the garrison passed to Richard Feilding. On 25 April, Feilding requested a truce in order to negotiate the town's surrender. Despite a Royalist relief force commanded by Charles I of England and Prince Rupert of the Rhine arriving the following day, Feilding held to the truce, and Essex's army was able to repel the relief army. The surrender terms were agreed on 26 April, and the next day the Royalists left the town for Oxford.
Visiting the battlefield
Location
- Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 51.4572, -0.9665
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Reading (revision 1375675683), 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
- Battle of Reading 1688 · 0 km
- Battle of Reading 871 · 1 km
- Battle of Englefield 871 · 9 km
- Battle of Ashdown 871 · 20 km
- Battle of Bensington 779 · 21 km
- Battle of Basing 871 · 22 km
Other battles of the First English Civil War
- Battle of Aylesbury 1642
- Battle of Babylon Hill 1642
- Battle of Brentford 1642
- Battle of Edgehill 1642
- Battle of Turnham Green 1642
- Siege of Hull 1642
- Battle of Adwalton Moor 1643
- Battle of Aldbourne Chase 1643
- Battle of Braddock Down 1643
- Battle of Burton Bridge 1643
All battles of the First English Civil War →
Browse more: battles in Oxfordshire · battles in England · Civil Wars · 17th century battles
Further reading
- Siege of Reading on Battlefields of the World (the battle in world context, with others of its war worldwide)
- Wikipedia: Siege of Reading
- Wikidata Q7510338
- English Wikipedia: Siege of Reading (rev 1375675683)