Battlefields›Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644)
English Civil War

Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644)

1644
Berkshire, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Berkshire, England
Status
Unregistered
Outcome
Parliamentary forces under Lt-Gen John Middleton (about 3,000 troops) besieged the Royalist-held castle from 31 July 1644; an assault with scaling ladders failed with heavy losses, and Colonel Jeremy Horton's subsequent bombardment (reportedly over 1,000 shots in 19 days) damaged three towers and sections of the curtain wall but did not force surrender. The siege was broken when King Charles I's army arrived, fought the Second Battle of Newbury nearby (27 October 1644), and the king returned on 9 November 1644 to relieve the garrison. The castle held out under Sir John Boys until its final surrender on 1 April 1646, when Parliament subsequently voted to demolish it.
The Battle

History & Significance

Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644) was a Civil War siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Berkshire, England in 1644. Parliamentary forces under Lt-Gen John Middleton (about 3,000 troops) besieged the Royalist-held castle from 31 July 1644; an assault with scaling ladders failed with heavy losses, and Colonel Jeremy Horton's subsequent bombardment (reportedly over 1,000 shots in 19 days) damaged three towers and sections of the curtain wall but did not force surrender. The siege was broken when King Charles I's army arrived, fought the Second Battle of Newbury nearby (27 October 1644), and the king returned on 9 November 1644 to relieve the garrison. The castle held out under Sir John Boys until its final surrender on 1 April 1646, when Parliament subsequently voted to demolish it.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644) lies on Lambeth Group, bedrock that formed in the Paleocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.

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Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644)

This page covers Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644). 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 Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644)

Donnington Castle: a quadrangular castle and 17th century fieldwork.
Donnington Castle: a quadrangular castle and 17th century fieldwork.
Scheduled monument · ~1.4 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 · ~1.5 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
Grimsbury Castle
Grimsbury Castle
Scheduled monument · ~2.2 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
Litten Chapel
Litten Chapel
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 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
Monkey Marsh Lock, Kennet and Avon Canal
Monkey Marsh Lock, Kennet and Avon Canal
Scheduled monument · ~3.7 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 · ~4.6 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
Cruise missile shelter complex, Greenham Common Airbase
Scheduled monument · ~3.6 miles
Bowl barrow 670m east of Rowbury Farm
Scheduled monument · ~3.7 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Siege of Donnington Castle (first phase, 1644)

Siege of Donnington Castle (final surrender, 1646)
1646
~0.8 miles away
Donnington Castle Royalist Garrison Established 1643
1643
~0.8 miles away
Action at Newbury - relief of Donnington
1644
~0.9 miles away
Battle of Merton
871
~1.4 miles away
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