Berkshire Bygones: Diary penned the ‘Siege of Reading’

The English Civil War stretched from 1642 to 1651, and during the struggle for power Royalist and Parliamentary armies clashed all over England, with the town of Reading right in the thick of it.

Soldiers were known as ‘Cavaliers’ and ‘Roundheads’, supporting King Charles I and Parliament respectively.

King Charles began hostilities in Nottingham in August 1642 and proceeded south to his stronghold in Oxford, crossing Caversham Bridge on November 4, 1643.

He formed a garrison in the town (its small Roundhead force having fled 3 days previously) of over 2,000 ‘foot and horse’ troops.

RING OF STEEL: Reading was surrounded by defences

What followed as the entourage descended into Reading, was one of the darkest periods in the town’s history, for the whole population was held to ransom.

King Charles ordered that an immediate payment to him of £1,000 must be handed over forthwith and the clothiers of the borough must make 1,000 army uniforms.

At this point a local clothier Joshua Holbeach enters our story, because he penned a diary of the siege, which survived to give an invaluable eye-witness account of the dramatic events as they unfolded.

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He wrote at the time: “A huge garrison marched in and doubled the population and they all had to be clothed, fed and housed by us, the townsfolk.”

A prime example of the ‘help yourself’ attitude initiated by King Charles, was to steal the Mayor’s silver after being served a lavish meal at Coley House.

When challenged, Prince Rupert (head of the Kings Cavalry) replied: “I but remove it to save from the crop-eared scoundrels.”

ROCK OF AGES: Reading Abbey took a beating during the siege

Over the next weeks construction began of ramparts and forts (Redoubts), which encircled the town, preventing its recapture, some walls as high as local houses.

The principal ‘Redoubts’ were placed at Greyfriars, Castle Hill, Abbey Bridge and Whitley Hill, with the low-lying area of the Kennet river flooded between Katesgrove and Castle Street.

During an inspection of the defences Joshua Holbeach remarked that the: “Town was shut all around.”

Whilst rumours were rife that the Earl of Essex coming from Windsor to take back the town, the Royalists continued strengthening defences and relieving the people of their wealth.

The Abbey ruins suffered one of its many periods of decay as it was used, not only as a line of defence, but also a ready-made source for defensive construction elsewhere.

On top of St Giles church tower the defenders placed a cannon, much to the consternation of the vicar, who had concerns this would make his church a primary target for Roundhead artillery.

The incandescent clergyman was correct in his assumption, the church was all but destroyed during the subsequent siege.

On April 15, a battery of guns was placed near Kennetmouth, which cut off the town from supplies which had been getting through from the River Thames.

Meanwhile the Royalist leader, Sir Arthur Aston, had suffered a freak accident when an artillery shell hit a roof above where he was observing the battle, a tile that dealt him a mighty blow to the head-rendering him speechless.

But the misery was not confined to the ‘defenders’ as the Roundheads had many problems of their own.

Essex’s soldiers were camped: “In their wet tents along the river” (as described by Holbeach), with disease being rife, many victims were buried in large pits at the bottom of Norcot Hill in Tilehurst.

FIELD OF FIRE: The Forbury Gardens formed part of the defences

The final entry in the Joshua Holbeach ‘Siege Diary’ details the surrender of the town to Essex and his Roundheads but incredibly this occurred just as King Charles arrived to relieve the garrison.

The ensuing battle left hundreds of dead and dying around the Caversham Bridge area, but the skirmish did not stop the town falling to Parliament.

As if the townsfolk had not suffered enough during this time, two days later the bedraggled Roundhead troops looted them of all their possessions.

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Despite an order stating that looting was to be punishable by death, the drunken mob lost all control and charged through the town stealing, vandalising and robbing anyone who crossed their path.

The indiscipline of the self-styled ‘New Model Army’ carried on for the next two days finally ending when all the Inns and large properties in Reading had nothing left to offer.

It was of no comfort to the townspeople that local churches were then packed full of remorseful (hungover) troops seeking to absolve themselves and craving forgiveness.

The Siege ended but many troops felt that honour had been badly served and in subsequent battles the Royalist troops never forgot the Roundheads ‘betrayal’ and this spurred many to seek out revenge on the Civil War battlefields that followed, such as the ‘Battles of Newbury’.