Battlefields›Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643
English Civil War

Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643

1643
West Berkshire, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Siege
Location
West Berkshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Parliamentarian
VS
Victor
Royalist
Forces involved

Royalist garrison of approximately 225 men under Colonel Sir John Boys; besieging Parliamentary force sizes not consistently recorded in sources reviewed.

Outcome
Following the First Battle of Newbury (September 1643), King Charles I sent Colonel Sir John Boys with around 225 men to garrison Donnington Castle. The garrison built star-shaped earthwork bastions around the medieval keep. Parliamentary forces besieged the castle from 1644, with failed assaults on 31 July 1644 and 2-9 November 1644, before a prolonged 18-month siege that ended when Boys surrendered with the king's permission on 1 April 1646. Parliament subsequently ordered the castle demolished, sparing only the gatehouse.
The Battle

History & Significance

Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643 was a Civil War siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at West Berkshire, England in 1643. Royalist prevailed over Parliamentarian. Following the First Battle of Newbury (September 1643), King Charles I sent Colonel Sir John Boys with around 225 men to garrison Donnington Castle. The garrison built star-shaped earthwork bastions around the medieval keep. Parliamentary forces besieged the castle from 1644, with failed assaults on 31 July 1644 and 2-9 November 1644, before a prolonged 18-month siege that ended when Boys surrendered with the king's permission on 1 April 1646. Parliament subsequently ordered the castle demolished, sparing only the gatehouse.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643 lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643

This page covers Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643. 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.
First month just £4.99, then £9.99 a month. Unlimited locations, cancel anytime.

Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

Start your Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643 report
Or see a real report first
Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643

Donnington Castle: a quadrangular castle and 17th century fieldwork.
Donnington Castle: a quadrangular castle and 17th century fieldwork.
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Donnington Castle is a quadrangular castle in Berkshire, England, founded in the late 14th century by Richard Abberbury and featuring a characteristic gatehouse tower of that period. The castle comprises a square plan with corner towers and was constructed to serve both defensive and residential…

Simon Burchell / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bussock camp
Bussock camp
Scheduled monument · ~1.6 mi

Bussock camp is an Iron Age hillfort located in Berkshire. The site comprises a univallate earthwork comprising a single bank and ditch enclosure, characteristic of defensive settlements constructed during the later prehistoric period. The monument survives as an upstanding earthwork that preserv…

D Gore / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Litten Chapel
Litten Chapel
Scheduled monument · ~2 mi

Litten Chapel is a medieval chapel of uncertain but potentially early date located in Berkshire, England. The monument survives as an ancient structure whose exact architectural chronology and original function remain subjects of scholarly consideration within the wider context of small rural ecc…

Bill Nicholls / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Grimsbury Castle
Grimsbury Castle
Scheduled monument · ~3 mi

Grimsbury Castle is a motte-and-bailey castle situated in Berkshire, England. The site comprises an earthwork consisting of a mound with an associated bailey, a defensive arrangement characteristic of Norman fortifications from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The castle represents the type of…

Pam Brophy / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Monkey Marsh Lock, Kennet and Avon Canal
Monkey Marsh Lock, Kennet and Avon Canal
Scheduled monument · ~4.1 mi

Monkey Marsh Lock is a lock structure on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Berkshire, England, dating from the canal's construction in the late eighteenth century. The lock represents the engineering infrastructure of the canal's development phase, which was undertaken to improve inland water transpor…

John Lloyd / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Motte at Hampstead Norreys, 250m south-west of St Mary's Church
Motte at Hampstead Norreys, 250m south-west of St Mary's Church
Scheduled monument · ~5.4 mi

Motte at Hampstead Norreys is a Norman defensive earthwork located approximately 250 metres south-west of St Mary's Church in the village of Hampstead Norreys, Berkshire. The monument comprises a substantial mound typical of motte-and-bailey fortifications, a common form of early Norman castle co…

Steve Matthews / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Motte in Hamstead Marshall Park, 340m NE of The Dower House
Scheduled monument · ~3.1 miles
Park Pale in Hamstead Marshall Park
Scheduled monument · ~3.2 miles
More from this era

Other English Civil War Battles

Battle of Kringen
1612
Scotland
Campbell Raid into MacDonald Islay Territory 1612
1612
Scotland
Mackenzie Seizure of Lewis 1610
1610
Scotland
Iona — Chiefs Signing Under Duress 1609
1609
Scotland
In the same landscape

Battles near Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643

Siege of Donnington Castle (final surrender, 1646)
1646
~0 miles away
Action at Newbury - relief of Donnington
1644
~0.2 miles away
Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644)
1644
~0.8 miles away
Second Battle of Newbury 1644
1644
~1.5 miles away
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around West Berkshire

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — 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 West BerkshireView a sample report
All Battlefields