Battlefields›Siege of Rockingham Castle
English Civil War

Siege of Rockingham Castle

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

Who Fought

Defeated
Royalists
VS
Victor
Parliamentarians
Outcome
Parliamentarian forces under Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford captured the Royalist-garrisoned castle from Sir Lewis Watson in 1643; the castle was used thereafter as a Parliamentary base and its walls were later slighted in 1646.
The Battle

History & Significance

Siege of Rockingham Castle was a Civil War siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Northamptonshire, England in 1643. Parliamentarians prevailed over Royalists. Parliamentarian forces under Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford captured the Royalist-garrisoned castle from Sir Lewis Watson in 1643; the castle was used thereafter as a Parliamentary base and its walls were later slighted in 1646.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

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

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Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Rockingham Castle

This page covers Siege of Rockingham Castle. 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 Rockingham Castle

Standing cross on The Green, 130m north west of The Bede House
Standing cross on The Green, 130m north west of The Bede House
Scheduled monument · ~3.2 mi

Standing cross on The Green, 130m north west of The Bede House is a medieval stone cross located in Rutland. The monument is a standing cross of the type commonly erected in English market towns and village greens during the medieval period, serving as a focal point for community gathering and co…

Marathon / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bridge at Medbourne
Bridge at Medbourne
Scheduled monument · ~4 mi

Bridge at Medbourne is a medieval masonry bridge crossing the River Welland in the village of Medbourne, Leicestershire. The structure dates from the medieval period and comprises stone arches of coursed rubble construction typical of medieval bridge-building techniques. The bridge represents an…

Andrew Tatlow / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Kirby Hall: an Elizabethan country house and gardens, including the remains of the medieval village of Kirby
Kirby Hall: an Elizabethan country house and gardens, including the remains of the medieval village of Kirby
Scheduled monument · ~4 mi

Kirby Hall is an Elizabethan country house built from the 1570s onwards by Sir Christopher Hatton near the village of Kettering in Northamptonshire. The hall exemplifies the architectural ambitions of the Elizabethan gentry, with its distinctive multi-storeyed ranges arranged around a central cou…

David Dixon / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Roundhouse or lock-up
Roundhouse or lock-up
Scheduled monument · ~4.4 mi

# Roundhouse or lock-up, Northamptonshire The Roundhouse or lock-up is a Grade II listed structure located in Northamptonshire, England. This circular stone building served as a parish lock-up or roundhouse, a type of holding cell commonly constructed in English villages and market towns during t…

Jonathan Thacker / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Market cross 10m west of Cross Farmhouse
Market cross 10m west of Cross Farmhouse
Scheduled monument · ~4.7 mi

Market cross 10m west of Cross Farmhouse is a medieval monument located in Northamptonshire, England. The structure dates from the medieval period and represents a significant example of market infrastructure typical of organised trading settlements in England during this era. Market crosses serv…

Kevin Flynn / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Butter Cross 150m east of the church
Butter Cross 150m east of the church
Scheduled monument · ~5.4 mi

Butter Cross 150m east of the church is a market cross located in Leicestershire. The structure dates to the medieval period and served as a focal point for local commerce, particularly the sale of butter and dairy produce, as indicated by its name. The cross would have functioned as a gathering…

Colin Smith / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Rockingham Castle, shrunken medieval village, moat and warrens
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 miles
Moated site 1km south west of Rockingham Castle
Scheduled monument · ~1.1 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Siege of Rockingham Castle

Battle of Naseby 1645
1645
~13.4 miles away
Mercian Suppression of the Middle Angles 653
653
~14.1 miles away
Siege of Leicester 1173
1173
~18.4 miles away
Siege of Leicester
1645
~18.4 miles away
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