The siege of Oxford Castle in 1142 is one of the most dramatic episodes of the Anarchy. Stephen besieged Matilda for three months; the empress escaped by crossing the frozen Thames on foot in white to blend with snow, fleeing to Abingdon. The castle then surrendered. The episode encapsulates the prolonged, often inconclusive nature of the civil war that devastated England for nearly two decades. Oxford and the upper Thames valley changed hands several times throughout the conflict.
Stephen: royal army with siege equipment. Matilda: Angevin garrison under her own command
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near Oxfordshire