| Up in arms: The Cornish in the Civil War |
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Page 4 of 5 Battle of Lostwithiel In the summer of 1644, a Parliamentarian army of some 8,000 men under the Earl of Essex, arrived to relieve the besieged city of Plymouth. The Royalists, under Sir Richard Grenville, were forced to withdraw back over the Tamar. Essex followed reaching Bodmin on July 28. In the meantime King Charles, fresh from a victory at Cropredy Bridge in June, had moved his force of some 16,000 men into Devon and then on into Cornwall. The Parliamentarians were caught between the two Royalist armies and in a very precarious position. The King set up his standard at Boconnoc (the same village where Royalist forces had been held in reserve in 1643 ) and called upon the Earl of Essex to surrender. At the same time a Royalist force was despatched to deal with the Roundhead garrison at Restormel Castle. Set high on a steep hill and further protected by a bend in the River Fowey the castle should have been virtually impregnable. As it was the garrison gave up without a fight. The Parliamentarian position continued to worsen. A large royalist force took up position on Beacon Hill and Druids Hill effectively covering the town of Lostwithiel while further south the river crossing at Bodinnick was also now in Royalist hands. On September 1, some 2,000 Roundhead cavalry managed to break through the Royalist lines and escape towards Liskeard and Saltash. The infantry they left behind carried out acts of destruction in Lostwithiel (including attempting to blow up St Bartholomew’s church, destroying ancient Cornish documents and setting fire to the Duchy Palace) before marching south towards Fowey. In pouring rain and constantly harassed by Royalist cavalry they advanced from hedge to hedge until finally reaching the high ground dominated by the ancient earthwork of Castle Dore. Here they made their last stand. In what was almost a rerun of the Battle of Stratton, the fortified hill top was defended from a series of assaults by the famed Cornish infantry. Attack after attack was repelled but by nightfall the eastern side of the defences fell and the hill was taken. The Earl of Essex abandoned his army and slipped away to escape by sea to Plymouth. The Parliamentarian troops were exhausted and disillusioned by their general’s desertion and after a brief parley they agreed to surrender. Some 6,000 men laid down their arms and 42 cannon were captured. It was the King’s greatest victory of the war. A visit to the site today is well worthwhile. Restormel Castle is open to visitors most days of the year. Castle Dore is situated on the B3269 Lostwithiel to Fowey road OS Map GR 104548. The earthworks are very clear and a monument records the battle. |
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