Battlefields›Siege of Banbury Castle 1646
English Civil War

Siege of Banbury Castle 1646

1646
Oxfordshire, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Oxfordshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Royalist garrison (Sir William Compton)
VS
Victor
Parliamentary forces (Sir Edward Whalley)
Forces involved

Parliamentarian besieging force of about 3,000 men under Sir Edward Whalley; Royalist garrison of about 300 men under Sir William Compton

Outcome
Royalist garrison under William Compton surrendered the castle in May 1646 as the Royalist cause collapsed following the King's surrender to the Scots in April 1646; the castle was later slighted (demolished) in 1648 to prevent further military use.
The Battle

History & Significance

Siege of Banbury Castle 1646 was a Civil War siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Oxfordshire, England in 1646. Parliamentary forces (Sir Edward Whalley) prevailed over Royalist garrison (Sir William Compton). Royalist garrison under William Compton surrendered the castle in May 1646 as the Royalist cause collapsed following the King's surrender to the Scots in April 1646; the castle was later slighted (demolished) in 1648 to prevent further military use.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Banbury Castle 1646 lies on Lias Group, bedrock that formed in the Aalenian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, limestone and sandstone.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Banbury Castle 1646

This page covers Siege of Banbury Castle 1646. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Siege of Banbury Castle 1646

Tooley's boatyard
Tooley's boatyard
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 mi

Tooley's Boatyard is a post-medieval industrial site located in Oxfordshire, England. The boatyard represents an example of riverine commercial activity dating from the early modern period, reflecting the importance of water transport and boat construction along England's inland waterways. The si…

Jim Linwood / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Dovecote south of Milcombe Hall Farm
Dovecote south of Milcombe Hall Farm
Scheduled monument · ~4.6 mi

Dovecote south of Milcombe Hall Farm is a stone-built structure of medieval or early post-medieval date, typical of the agricultural infrastructure that served substantial rural estates in Oxfordshire. The building functioned as a dovecote, providing a controlled environment for the breeding and…

Cliffkinch / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Tithe barn
Tithe barn
Scheduled monument · ~5.2 mi

Tithe Barn is a substantial medieval agricultural building located in Oxfordshire, dating to the fourteenth century. The structure served as a storage facility for tithes, the portion of agricultural produce collected by the Church as a form of taxation, and exemplifies the ecclesiastical economi…

Des Blenkinsopp / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Tadmarton camp
Tadmarton camp
Scheduled monument · ~5.3 mi

Tadmarton camp is a hillfort located in Oxfordshire that dates to the Iron Age. The monument consists of a roughly circular or oval enclosure defined by a substantial bank and ditch, typical of the defensive earthworks constructed during the later prehistoric period in Britain. The site commands…

Simon Burchell / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Arbury Banks
Arbury Banks
Scheduled monument · ~5.4 mi

Arbury Banks is a multivallate Iron Age hillfort situated near Ashby-cum-Fenby in Northamptonshire. The monument comprises a series of defensive earthwork banks and ditches forming an irregular enclosure, characteristic of late prehistoric defensive architecture in the East Midlands region. Datin…

Rainsborough camp
Rainsborough camp
Scheduled monument · ~5.6 mi

Rainsborough Camp is an Iron Age hillfort situated in Northamptonshire, England. The site is defined by a substantial univallate rampart with external ditch, enclosing an area of approximately 5.4 hectares on elevated ground. The fort dates to the Iron Age, likely to the Middle Iron Age period, a…

Julian Dowse / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Former World War I National Filling Factory, Banbury
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 miles
Broughton Castle: fortified house and moat
Scheduled monument · ~2.9 miles
More from this era

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Iona — Chiefs Signing Under Duress 1609
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In the same landscape

Battles near Siege of Banbury Castle 1646

Banbury Castle Second Investment 1644 — Garrison Sorties
1644
~0.2 miles away
Battle of Cropredy Bridge 1644
1644
~3.9 miles away
Battle of Danes Moor
1469
~5.2 miles away
Battle of Edgcote (Danes Moor), 1469
1469
~5.2 miles away
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