Battlefields›Siege of Tenby Castle 1648
English Civil War

Siege of Tenby Castle 1648

1648
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Royalists
VS
Victor
Parliamentarians
Outcome
Tenby Castle, held by Royalist Colonel Rice Powell, was starved into submission during the Second Civil War operations in Pembrokeshire; Powell surrendered and was taken prisoner on 31 May 1648 after the garrison held out roughly ten weeks under siege.
The Battle

History & Significance

Siege of Tenby Castle 1648 was a Civil War siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1648. Parliamentarians prevailed over Royalists. Tenby Castle, held by Royalist Colonel Rice Powell, was starved into submission during the Second Civil War operations in Pembrokeshire; Powell surrendered and was taken prisoner on 31 May 1648 after the garrison held out roughly ten weeks under siege.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Tenby Castle 1648 lies on Dinantian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Mississippian. The rock here is limestone with subordinate sandstone and argillaceous rocks.

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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.
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.
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
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Timeline
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Siege of Tenby Castle 1648

Tenby Town Wall
Tenby Town Wall
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.3 mi

Tenby Town Wall is a medieval defensive fortification enclosing the town of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales, dating primarily from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The wall survives in substantial sections around the town's peninsula, representing one of the most complete urban fortificatio…

Nilfanion / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Tenby Market Cross
Tenby Market Cross
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.3 mi

Tenby Market Cross is a medieval market cross located in Tenby, Wales. The monument stands on bedrock of the Millstone Grit Group, a formation of mudstone, siltstone and sandstone laid down during the Namurian period. This substantial geology has provided a stable foundation for the structure acr…

welshbabe / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Tenby Castle
Tenby Castle
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.3 mi

Tenby Castle is a medieval fortification occupying a prominent headland position within the walled town of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The castle was established in the late 13th century as a stone-built stronghold, with surviving remains including substantial sections of curtain walling and t…

Robert Edwards / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Fort St Catherine
Fort St Catherine
Scheduled monument · Post Medieval/Modern · ~0.5 mi

Fort St Catherine is a nineteenth-century coastal defence fort located on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales. Constructed during the period of Victorian military expansion and modernisation of Britain's defences, the fort represents the strategic importance placed upon protecting Welsh coastal wate…

TenbyIsland.co.uk / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons
Black Rock Quarry Lime Kilns
Black Rock Quarry Lime Kilns
Scheduled monument · Post Medieval/Modern · ~0.7 mi

Black Rock Quarry Lime Kilns is a post-medieval and modern industrial site in Pembrokeshire, Wales, comprising lime kilns associated with quarrying operations. The kilns date from the post-medieval period through to modern times, reflecting the long history of lime production in the region, which…

David Luther Thomas / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
The Watchtower
The Watchtower
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.7 mi

The Watchtower is a medieval beacon tower set upon the bedrock of Upper Devonian sandstone and conglomerate in Wales. The tower's position on this interbedded geological foundation provided a naturally elevated platform above the surrounding landscape, ideal for its role in medieval communication…

Colin Bell / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Sculptured Stone Cross in Church
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~1.3 miles
Little Hoyle Cave and Longbury Bank Dark Age Site
Scheduled monument · Prehistoric · ~1.4 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Siege of Tenby Castle 1648

Siege of Carew Castle (1645)
1645
~6.4 miles away
Battle of Mynydd Carn
1081
~6.8 miles away
Siege of Roses (1808)
1808
~8.2 miles away
Gerald of Windsor Defends Pembroke Castle 1096
1096
~9.3 miles away
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