Sudeley History Timeline

1642-1649

1642

August 22 - Charles I raised his standard at Nottingham and at Sudeley Castle George 6th Lord Chandos declared his support for the King, armed his tenants and servants, placed the Castle under the command of his brother and marched to join Charles at Shrewsbury with 1,000 men and £500 worth of gold plate.

1643

January - in the absence of Lord Chandos Sudeley was surrendered after a three day siege to Colonel Massey and his Roundhead troops.

Two days later Charles’s nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, encamped with 4000 men near Sudeley, from where he attacked and captured Cirencester, forcing the Roundheads to abandon Sudeley, but not before they had desecrated the Chapel of St Mary, turning the tower into stabling and the chancel into a slaughter-house.

In April Sudeley was re-garrisoned by Lord Chandos and in September, after the Royalist defeat at Gloucester, King Charles made it his headquarters.

1644

Sudeley again attacked by the Parliamentarians, under the command of Sir William Waller, and after suffering a severe bombardment, was surrendered by Sir William Morton, governor of the Castle.

1649

After Sudeley had been garrisoned by Parliamentary Troops for nearly five years – the Council of State gave orders that the Castle be ‘slighted’ or rendered untenable as a military post. Lord Chandos was allowed £1000 compensation for the destruction of his Castle. He never returned and the title and estates passed to the Pitt family of Stratfield Saye.