DONNINGTON CASTLE, BERKSHIRE

Donnington Castle & the Battles of Newbury

Donnington Castle has seen its fair share of battle, siege, death and misery yet it does not stand on any border with the rebellious Scots or Welsh, nor does it stand on the southern coast where French or Spanish raids would give cause for its ruinous facade, it was actually during the First English Civil War which Donnington Castle saw so much action, standing alongside the vital Bath to London road its ownership was vital to both sides, and in all during the bloody catastrophe that made up the civil wars it saw 20 months of siege. Originally built in 1386 during Richard II’s reign it was first held by Richard de Abberbury, who as Chamberlain to Anne of Bohemia (Richards queen) was an influential person at court. Yet at the time of the civil war John Packer was lord of the manor, as I have just said its ownership would be vital to both sides and it was the Royalists who made the first move. John Boys commanded the garrison and between late 1642 and early 1644 little action was seen by his command.

All of this changed in July 1644 when a Parliamentarian Army of 3000 men arrived to demand the surrender of the castle, these forces were led by General Middleton. Boy’s refused the demand for capitulation and so Middleton attacked the high walls of the castle, a rash decision as it cost him 300 men, a tenth of his force. Middleton retired and left Boy’s alone, however the surrounding area was now under Parliamentarian control and in September another attack was launched, this time a massive 12 day artillery bombardment preceded the assault, three of the castles main towers were pounded into rubble, its curtain wall was breeched and inside conditions were starting to deteriorate to suc an extent that horses were being eaten (always seen as a last resort during a siege, even dogs, cats and rats would be eaten before a horse) with little more than 100 men left at his command Boys was again ordered to surrender, he refused once more. A month later and another massive artillery bombardment preceded another assault, this left little more than the gatehouse standing, yet still Boys refused to surrender, then a miracle happened, King Charles was on his way to relieve the castle with a massive army. This army met the Parliamentarians at the 2nd Battle of Newbury on the 28th October 1644, the Royalist plan was to hold on to three vital positions and let the Parliamentarians break themselves upon them. These were Shaw House, Speen Village and Donnington Castle, the size of the Parliamentarian army however gave the King much concern but his plans worked to some extent, the Parliamentarians however had the King (with a smaller army) trapped inside Parliament controlled lands, if they could cut off all possible escape routes they could wear his forces down and capture him. Fortunately for King Charles however the Parliamentarians were not up to this task and after uncoordinated attacks on all three defensive positions the Kings forces were allowed to slip away easily. Donnington was re-provisioned before the royalists left however the Parliamentarians had gone too, this gave Boys a chance to make some repairs, clear much of the rubble away and get more food into the gatehouse for the inevitable Parliamentarian sieges to come. These sieges and attacks lasted on and off for the next year, Boys was almost at breaking point but still the defenders refused to submit, in March 1646 he sent King Charles a desperate letter telling of the horrible suffering he and his men were suffering, all food had gone, men were sucking dew from the stones for water and disease had begun to kill more men than enemy cannon. The King replied by telling Boys to get the best terms for his men as possible, and so in April 1646 after so much horrible slaughter the Royalists surrendered, the remains of Boys troops being taken away to prison then to slavery in the colonies, Boys’ fate is uncertain, most likely he was stood against the walls of the castle and shot. However there are sources which believe he was imprisoned and escaped to live in France.

Parliament decided to slight nearly every castle in the country after the civil war, by this it is meant that key defensive parts such as the Keep or the Curtain walls are destroyed so that no one can use the castle as a defensive structure, at Donnington this was not really necessary as very little remained anyway. All that remains to this day is the gatehouse, and the ghosts. The strangest of which is a ghostly white dog seen running down the hillside, then jumping into the air and disappearing before hitting the ground. Ghostly replays of the battle fought there in 1644 has been heard too, gunfire, screams and shouting have all been heard, the only ghost seen from this period is a lone Royalist soldier on guard in the gatehouse, he stands stock still until someone approaches him before vanishing like a bubble bursting. After the second Battle of Newbury the fortunes of war changed dramatically for both sides, the King went on to lose the war, mostly because in the shambles of 2nd Newbury Cromwell was able to persuade Parliament to organise a better army, religiously fanatical in its devotion to the Puritan faith, this New Model Army Cromwell went on to use in his own bid for overall and unlimited power, this upset everyone, Winston Churchill writing his famous Book titled the history of the English Peoples says " The New Model Army took on the Royalists, the Scots, the Navy, the Welsh, The Irish and the Dutch... the Army beat the lot!" thankfully Cromwell’s dictatorship did not last too long. However on a foggy morning with the mist rolling up the gentle hillside towards the ruins of Donnington perhaps the spirits of those who died there are still fighting their eternal struggle for their own cause.

CJ Linton