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Wakefield Museums and Castles
The English Civil Wars
The English Civil Wars were a series of wars fought in Britain in the 1600s. They were fought between King Charles I’s Royalists and Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians.
The Royalists believed that the King had a “divine right” to rule the country as he wished. The Parliamentarians believed the country should be governed by parliament. The Parliamentarians eventually won. Charles I was beheaded in 1649.
Pontefract Castle was involved in three sieges during the English Civil Wars.
The third siege of Pontefract Castle was in 1648.
John Morris was a Royalist. He snuck into the castle with a few supporters by pretending to bring beds in for the garrison!
Morris and his fellow Royalists then held the castle for nine months.
King Charles I was executed on 30 January 1649. The Royalists managed to hold on to Pontefract Castle for a further 24 days. At this point, their lack of food had become desperate. It was clear reinforcements were not coming to their aid.
Morris was executed for treason.
A map of the 1648 siege of Pontefract. (Note: the King's Tower and the Queen's Tower are actually the wrong way around!)
Oliver Cromwell ruled Britain between 1653 and 1658 as Lord Protector. When he died, he was succeeded by his son Richard. Richard was not very popular and gave up power after nine months in 1659.
Shortly after this, Parliament chose to restore the monarchy. Charles I’s son, Charles II, became king.
Charles II ruled for over 30 years, but he had a lot less power than the kings and queens before him.
Find out more on a tour
If you would like to find out more, then come and visit us at Pontefract Castle!
We run two types of guided tour every weekend:
- Our Dungeon Tours explore the eerie underground dungeon. They are at 10:45am on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
- Our Castle Explorer Tours tell stories of the castle's past around the grounds. They are at 2pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.