THE FORTRESS

CHAPTER 11

THE CITY’S SIEGE, SURRENDER AND SUFFOCATION

The opening years of the 17th Century did not start that well for the city. There were two major outbreaks of Bubonic Plague within Chester, firstly in 1603 and then again in 1605, both of which were said to have decimated the local population and restricted the city’s ability to trade and transport effectively. Many of its wealthier citizens were able to remove themselves and their households away from the city, but the poor and working classes were compelled to remain there and take their chances. Edward Dutton, a member of one of Chester’s leading landed family’s was recorded as the Mayor of Chester in 1604, but his wealth and position failed to protect him or his family from misfortune and it was reported that he lost a number of his children to an outbreak of plague which occurred in the city.

At around the same time, another of the city’s leading figures, John Tyrer, was said to have constructed a water tower in the south of the city, close to the old Bridge Gate. It was designed to distribute fresh water throughout the city via a series of lead pipes which were laid beneath its main streets. Tyrer was reported to have been a lay clerk at Chester cathedral, who in 1622, was said to have built a waterworks on the site of the natural springs just outside the city, at Boughton. This new building was located on the site, which a thousand years before had been used by the Roman legionaries to supply water to the fortress for their bath houses His Water Tower was finally demolished in 1780, having been seriously damaged during the siege of Chester in the mid 1640’s. He was reported to have laid the floor in the nave of Chester cathedral and was thought to have died around 1634.

By around 1608 Chester was thought to have substantially recovered from the earlier outbreaks of disease and its population was slowly beginning to be restored, as was its important trading and distributive industries. Both the social and economic diversification of the city was continuing to be developed and by 1609 the first annual St George’s Day race meeting was said to have been held on the Roodee race course. Its fairs and markets remained vitally important to the city’s prosperity and continued to attract traders and merchants from all over England, as well as from Ireland.

Robert Amerye was reported to have been a Sheriff of Chester in 1609, who presented 3 Silver Bells to the first 3 horse’s home, in a 5 circuit race of the Roodee. Initially staged on St George’s day, these races later became known as the St George’s Bells and later still the Chester Plate. It was possibly an earlier generation of this same family that was Sheriff in 1556, when the martyr George Marsh was burnt at the stake in Chester. A Robert Amery was thought to have prevented Sheriff Thomas Cowper from freeing Marsh from the flames by force of arms.

Queen Elizabeth’s successor James I was reported to have visited Chester in 1617 to attend the annual race meeting and was said to have wandered around a number of the events and plays that were taking place throughout the city. Despite the obvious wealth within the city which was reflected in the size and fashion of its private houses, the Crown properties within Chester had not fared so well in the previous decades. A survey undertaken by the city’s assembly in 1624 found that the Great Shire Hall was in an extremely dilapidated condition and that the Castle’s chapel was in a fairly ruinous state. A great number of the buildings at the Castle were known to have been rebuilt around 1570, so their perilous condition only some fifty-odd years later tends to suggest that either poor workmanship or materials were responsible for their later ruinous predicament. It isn’t entirely clear if remedial work was undertaken by the assembly at this time, but it has to be assumed that some degree of restoration was undertaken if only to make the buildings safe. Within the city itself, its main streets and alleyways were so filthy that the assembly urgently introduced an ordinance to compel the local population to clean up the mess. The local householders could be fined if they did not clean up their properties and the surrounding areas and to maintain them in a proper condition.

William Edwards was said to have been the Mayor of Chester in 1636, who ordered that all the dirt in the city’s streets should be collected together, to make a bank that would both enlarge and protect the Roodee, but still allow ships into the city’s port. A second order issued by Edwards, instructed all householders in the Eastgate area of the city to clear the streets in front of their doors. Those that failed to obey the instruction within a month were reported to have faced a fine of 10 shillings, a sizeable amount of money at the time.

In 1625, the monarch James I died and was succeeded to the throne by Charles I. Regarded by most as a devoutly religious and fair-minded king, Charles was generally very tolerant of his subject’s right to practice their own religions without undue interference from the Crown or state. In 1632 St Paul’s in London, the predecessor to the modern day building was in such a ruinous condition, that in common with many towns and cities throughout the country, both the Mayor and Sheriff of Chester were ordered to collect money from the city’s inhabitants to help pay for its upkeep and repair.

Sometimes a stubborn and insensitive man, Charles’ main failing seems to have been his insistence on believing that God should be worshipped in a highly public and materialistic fashion and that would ultimately lead him into conflict with other faiths. In 1639 Charles initiated a dispute with the Scottish churches which would later be known as the Bishops War, following his insistence that Anglican religious reforms should be introduced into Scotland as well as England. In pursuing his demands Charles sent his military forces into Scotland, but due to a lack of finances and faith in his army was forced to withdraw them without ever having engaged the opposition.

In 1640 Charles was compelled to recall the English Parliament in order to raise funds to pursue his campaign against the Scottish churches. However, many MP’s saw this as an opportunity to extract additional concessions from the king and there were those that were very strongly opposed to any sort of military action against the church under any circumstances. Realizing that he would not get his finances, Charles dismissed this “short” session of Parliament and went ahead with his campaign against the Scottish churches anyway and was subsequently beaten by their forces.

Following this defeat, in November 1640 Charles was forced to recall Parliament yet again and this “long” session of the legislature was notable for the mutual antipathy and suspicion shown by both parties. In January 1642 Charles attempted to arrest five MP’s and sent troops into the Parliament building to seize them, but the individuals had been forewarned and were able to make good their escape. The king left London shortly afterwards, but following his actions against these elected representatives both sides began to stockpile weapons and the countdown to war had begun. It is thought that the English Civil War officially began in August 1642 with Charles I raising his standard at Nottingham and Parliament appointing Robert Devereaux, the third Earl of Essex, as their military commander.

At the beginning of the English Civil War in August 1642 Cheshire as a region remained relatively quiet and the only disputes caused by the conflict was the political in-fighting amongst the city’s assembly. Chester itself was seen as a Royalist island surrounded by a Parliamentarian sea represented by the county itself, which generally supported the forces of Parliament. North Wales on the other hand was staunchly Royalist; it had been and remained an ideal recruiting ground for the king and his forces. In addition to this, Chester was a main point of access to the English troops that were then serving in Ireland and who were substantially loyal to the king himself. Royalists knew that in order to gain access to this considerable force in support of their cause, they would need to hold the port itself.

Within the city assembly itself, there were great divisions, with both Royalist and Parliamentary sympathizers battling for control of the highly defended castle, walls and the armaments that were held within the city’s armory. The arrival of large numbers of Protestants fleeing the troubles in Ireland significantly ratcheted up the level of tension between the two parties and there were reported to be increasingly violent brawls between the supporters of both rival parties.

The question regarding the city’s stance in the dispute seems to have been finally resolved in September 1642, when the king himself visited Chester. Royalist supporters were quick to exploit the opportunity and were said to have used the occasion to undermine their Parliamentarian opponents in the assembly and forced them to abandon the city in fear for their safety and indeed their lives. One of those that were forced to flee the city was the leading Parliamentarian supporter Sir William Brereton who was known to have served on the local assembly and owned substantial assets within the city.

Born on the 13th September 1604, Brereton was thought to have been the eldest son of William Brereton of Handforth in Cheshire and became heir to his father’s substantial estates, following his parent’s death in 1610. The family was reported to have owned substantial amounts of land and buildings in the western part of the city, particularly those lands formerly owned by the religious houses which had been dissolved by Henry VIII in around 1540.

Sir William was educated at Brasenose College in Oxford and later at Grays Inn and in the following years became a notable and energetic magistrate in the county. Brereton was created a Baronet in 1627 and was a staunch Puritan, who called for root and branch reform of the Anglican Church. He was a keen writer and military student who travelled widely and was known to have visited Holland and France, as well as travelling throughout much of England, Scotland and Ireland.

He was said to have been elected to Parliament in 1628 where he represented Cheshire, his seat being at Handforth Hall in the county. He was re-elected in 1640 and was a vocal opponent of the king, Charles I, and his misuse of Parliament and as such became a fervent supporter of the Parliamentary cause. By 1641 Brereton had been appointed by the House of Commons to supervise the shipments of men and materials from Chester to Ireland, in order to suppress a rebellion that had broken out in the Province.

As a leading citizen in the city of Chester itself and having been elected as MP for the county on two occasions, he was involved in a long standing dispute with the city authorities regarding his liability for a local tax, called “ship money”. On 8th August 1642, Brereton, along with a small number of supporters were reported to have staged a demonstration at the city’s High Cross calling on the citizens of Chester to support the Parliamentary cause.

The Mayor of Chester, Thomas Cowper, arrived on the scene accompanied by a number of city constables and intent on arresting the ring-leaders and putting an end to the demonstration. The group was said to have resisted his authority and Cowper was so outraged at his office being treated so disrespectfully, that he stepped forward to seize one of the demonstrators and handed him over to the constables. He then reportedly took up a sword and cut the offending drum to pieces, arresting the drummer and a number of the others demonstrators and the disturbance was quelled.

For his part in the disturbance, Brereton was said to have been brought before the city’s magistrates to explain his actions. Attempting to raise the issue of the offending “ship money” once again, the court refused to acknowledge his defense, but Brereton was discharged by the magistrates nonetheless. The matter though, had created intense reactions on the part of some Royalist supporters within the city and Brereton was advised to leave the city for his own safety late in August 1642.

When Charles I visited Chester at the beginning of the Civil War, he ordered the Mayor of Chester to search Brereton’s home for illegal arms and ammunition. The houses of Aldermen William Edwards and Thomas Aldersey were also thought to have been searched, along with the Red Lion and Golden Lion Inns in the city.

Such was the antipathy felt towards Brereton by some members of the city’s Royalist garrison, that his family home in Chester, the former Benedictine Convent of St Mary’s, which was called Nuns Hall was subsequently attacked and severely damaged by bands of Royalist soldiers.

Sir Nicholas Byron was said to have been appointed as military governor of Chester by the king himself, prior to his Edgehill campaign and his subsequent march on London. Byron was aided in his defense of Chester by a professional soldier called Colonel Robert Ellis who was a Colonel in King Charles’ army and who had gained extensive military experience in modern warfare and defenses. He had spent a great deal of time in Europe and had studied the techniques being used by various European forces. Given this expertise, Ellis was asked to strengthen Chester’s defenses in order to prepare the city for the forthcoming conflict.

The whole length of the walls were said to have been reinforced by mounds of rubble and earth being piled against the inside face of the ancient sandstone defenses, which it was hoped would make the walls strong enough to resist cannon and mortar fire. The three remaining city gates were strengthened and their medieval drawbridges were brought back into service, providing an additional barrier to those forces that might attack the city.

Following his appointment as Parliamentary commander of Cheshire in January 1643, Brereton had immediately begun to recruit supporters to his cause and developed a network of spies and agents throughout the region. Shortly after taking command of the Parliamentary forces in the county, in March 1643 Brereton defeated a Royalist force at Middlewich which helped to consolidate Parliamentary dominance in Cheshire. In the same month he defeated the Royalists forces under the command of Sir Thomas Aston who were holding Nantwich and having taken the town, it was then refortified and remained as Brereton’s military headquarters throughout the first Civil War.

Brereton would later become both the scourge and savior of the city of Chester. On Friday 13^th July 1643, at the head of a large Parliamentary force, Brereton made the first of many attacks on the city’s defenses, but was easily beaten back by the Royalist garrison. Having failed to capture the city, Brereton then led his forces across the River Dee at Farndon, which was done in the face of fierce opposition from the Royalist forces stationed at nearby Holt Castle. Having crossed the river, Brereton’s men then captured the town of Wrexham in November 1643 and then moved northwest towards the Norman castle at nearby Hawarden.

Brereton’s forces easily captured the town and castle at Hawarden which allowed him to sever the Royalist supply lines from both Ireland and North Wales. He then sent a summons to the city of Chester demanding their surrender, which was ignored. Unfortunately for Brereton, the position at Hawarden left his forces exposed to a counter attack by Royalist forces and he hastily withdrew the Parliamentary garrison to the English side of the Dee. This withdrawal by Brereton, then allowed Royalist forces from Ireland to land at Mostyn in Flintshire and march through to the isolated city. This relaxation of the siege was also thought to have allowed the Royalist forces to re-supply their stores.

In December 1643 Charles I was reported to have appointed Lord Byron as Royalist commander in Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales. He was said to have replaced his relative, Sir Nicholas Byron, who had been captured by Parliamentary forces earlier in the year. Lord Byron conducted a series of successful raids and military strikes against Brereton’s forces throughout December 1643, including the capture of Beeston Castle to the east of the city. The Parliamentary commander of the former Norman fortress was reported to have been subsequently executed for cowardice, following the loss of their position. The Royalist then managed to score a second notable victory over the Parliamentarians when Brereton’s forces were beaten at a second battle at Middlewich and were forced to retreat north to Manchester.

Brereton’s troops were eventually pushed back to his military headquarters at Nantwich and later were being besieged by the Royalist forces under Lord Byron. Parliament then ordered Sir Thomas Fairfax to march to Brereton’s aid and with a force of 2000 men joined Brereton at Manchester and together they set out to relieve their besieged garrison in Cheshire

Byron was aware that a relief force was approaching Nantwich, but was undone by pure bad luck and the poor judgment shown by one of his subordinate officers. Extremely bad weather and heavy rain had compelled Byron to reposition his artillery and while in the process of doing so; he inadvertently split his force at completely the wrong time. While Byron was trying to replace his artillery, the remainder of his force consisting mainly of infantry and under the control of a Colonel Gibson had been deployed to intercept the relief force of Fairfax and Brereton.

This unexpected division of the Royalist force would ultimately have dire results for Byron’s troops. Detached as he was from his infantry, Byron had little or no immediate control over their movements or deployment. Two regiments of Parliamentary troops were tasked with holding Byron’s cavalry at bay while the remainder of Fairfax’s forces confronted the Royalist’s commanded by Gibson. At a pivotal moment in the engagement, the Parliamentary troops from the Nantwich garrison were said to have moved out from the town, adding their numbers to Fairfax’s forces and causing the Royalist infantry to fall back and disperse.

Having witnessed the defeat and surrender of his infantry units, Lord Byron then retreated to Chester, taking with him the remnants of his cavalry force and soldiers who had avoided capture by Fairfax. With the Nantwich garrison relieved and replenished, Brereton was then able to consolidate his forces and immediately made plans to recover the ground lost in the previous months. From around November 1644 onwards, Brereton was reported to have begun establishing a ring of Parliamentary garrisons around the besieged city of Chester.

Back in the city itself, the overcrowding and sudden influx of large numbers of Irish soldiers had begun to tell on the patience and resources of the local inhabitants. Their resentment had been further fueled with the arrival in the city of the Dutch Prince Rupert in March 1644. His review of the city’s defenses seem to have led to the wholesale destruction of large swathes of suburban buildings, which it was thought might offer shelter to the Parliamentary forces that were seeking to capture the city. As many of these buildings were privately owned the decision to simply demolish them was met with a storm of protest from the individual householders and landlords. On the south bank of the river, the settlement at Handbridge was said to have been completely razed by the city’s defenders, in order to prevent the township from falling into enemy hands.

With the city’s defenses once again reorganized, Rupert was reported to have left Chester shortly afterwards and along with the troops that accompanied him, set off to raise the siege at Newark, which he was said to have achieved a short time later. Between April and June 1644 Rupert and his forces were campaigning throughout the whole of Cheshire and South Lancashire and then turned his attention to York, where the city was being besieged by a joint Scottish and Parliamentary army. On the 2^nd July 1644 the two opposing forces met on Marston Moor, just outside of York and in the ensuing battle the Royalist army was devastatingly crushed by their adversaries. The city of York itself then fell to the Parliamentary forces, with Prince Rupert and what remained of his force retiring to Chester in order to regroup. In the following month Rupert was said to have taken his forces out of the city and moved them further south.

By November of the same year, tensions within the city were said to have remained high, with the continuing presence of large numbers of Irish troops and the shortages that this caused to the civilian population. The Crown’s incessant demand for funds to support their campaigns fell directly on the local citizens, through the introduction of additional levies and taxes which they were forced to pay. There was no outright display of the local population’s anger or frustration towards their Royalist leaders, but it was said to be significant that Aldermen with the greatest Royalist sympathies, attracted less support than their more politically neutral colleagues when local elections were called in the city’s wards.

Brereton was not thought to have immediately reinstated his siege of Chester following the Royalist defeats at Nantwich and York, but had recovered lost ground and substantially strengthened his military forces. By the end of November 1644 however, he was ready to apply direct pressure to the city once again and set about establishing a ring of garrisons around the outskirts of Chester. The closest of these was said to have been sited at Christleton and they were regarded so seriously by the Royalist supporters that a relief force under Prince Rupert’s brother, Maurice, was sent to lift the siege of the city, which he managed to achieve in February 1645. Once again, the immediate defenses were thought to have been rearranged and large parts of the city’s northern suburbs demolished by the city’s defenders.

Prince Maurice was then thought to have left the city and took with him some of the most experienced troops that were stationed there, leaving behind only Welsh troops and a number of poorly trained civilian militia’s. The Parliamentarians under Brereton resumed their siege of the city soon afterwards and were said to have sent troops into North Wales to once again try and capture the strategically important Hawarden Castle. Aware that his forces could be isolated if Charles’ army arrived in Cheshire, Brereton once again withdrew his men from the Welsh side of the border and rejoined his forces outside of Chester. The city was by now the only Royalist centre in the whole of northwest England and as such was seen as being vitally important to both sides in the conflict.

King Charles and his army had indeed been on their way to Chester, but having heard that Brereton had once again raised the siege on the city, then withdrew his forces to the south east. In June 1645 the king’s Royalist army were said to have finally met the New Model Army of Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Naseby and was subsequently destroyed by the new professional force that was set against him.

Brereton had to temporarily give up command of his military forces under the terms of the Self Denying Ordinance of November 1645, which prevented elected Members of Parliament from holding military commands. During his enforced absence, Brereton’s place was taken by a council of Junior Officers that dictated military policy and planning, but decided not to reinstate the siege at Chester, thereby allowing its defenders to re-supply their stores and to add to their defensive positions. It was during this period that a Royalist fort was constructed on the southern bank of the river at Handbridge. However, Brereton along with Oliver Cromwell and Sir Thomas Middleton were eventually exempted from this particular piece of legislation and were allowed to return to their military posts.

Direct military operations against the city were said to have resumed in September of 1645, following criticism of the apparent inactivity on the part of the Parliamentarian forces. On the night of the 20^th of September their forces were reported to have overrun the Royalist defenses in the eastern suburbs of the city, simply by using the gardens of adjoining houses. The areas including St John’s church and Foregate Street were now firmly in Parliamentary hands and large artillery pieces were thought to have been brought in to bombard the city’s walls. James Lothian was a Major in the Parliamentary force which was besieging the city during 1645 and he was reported to have been part of the Roundhead forces that finally overran the Royalist’s eastern earthworks and actually brought the siege to the city’s gates. A notable local individual, Randle Richardson, who was a Sheriff of Chester during the siege of the city, was reportedly killed in 1645 by a bullet fired by a Parliamentary sniper located at the nearby St John’s church, which had been recently captured by Brereton’s forces.

Despite this close siege of the city, the monarch, Charles I managed to enter the city in September 1645 accompanied by a small cavalry force, with which he hoped to raise the siege on the city. On the 24^th of September this force commanded by Sir Marmaduke Langdale was decisively beaten by the Parliamentarians under General Lambert at Rowton Moor, an area of meadow which lay just outside of the city’s limits. Legend say’s, that the king watched the battle from the Phoenix Tower which is located along the eastern wall of the city’s defenses and now bears the name, King Charles’ Tower.

Yet another legend relates that as he watched the battle at Rowton from the top of the city’s Cathedral a Royalist captain that was accompanying the king was hit by a musket ball fired from the nearby St John’s church and was killed on the spot. The king accompanied by Sir Francis Gamull, who would later lose much of his fortune for the sake of his monarch, left the city the following day. On his departure Charles left orders with Lord Byron, that he could surrender the city if he did not receive any relief within 10 days. Despite these instructions however, the city continued to hold out for a further 20 weeks, from the 25^th September through to the 3^rd February 1646. During those tortuous weeks the population would eventually be driven to eating the cavalrymen’s horses, as well as local cats and dogs, rather than surrender the city to the Parliamentary forces who lay outside the city.

Thomas Gamull was thought to be the son of Edmund Gamull, a 4 times Mayor of Chester and the father of Sir Francis Gamull, a leading Royalist supporter during the English Civil War and the siege of Chester. Along with his wife, Thomas was laid to rest in the church of St Mary’s on the hill, close to the city’s historic medieval castle. Their family altar tomb is said to be located in St Catherine’s Chapel within the church.

Thomas’ son, Sir Francis Gamull was a notable member of this leading Chester family, who were said to have owned extensive land and property in and around the city. He had been elected as Mayor of Chester from 1634 to 1635 and during the Civil War and subsequent Siege of Chester, he was said to have been appointed as commander of the city’s local defense force in 1643.

The monarch, King Charles was reported to have stayed at Gamull’s Chester town house during his many visits to the city and to have been attended by Francis as he watched the battle at Rowton Moor, where his Royalist troops were lost to the opposing Parliamentary forces. The family’s home in the city, Gamull House, which is located in the Lower Bridge Street area of the city, later became a run down tenement building, but was substantially renovated during the 20^th Century and remains to this day as a number of separate living spaces.

In around 1601, Francis was reported to have gone into partnership with John Tyrer, the man responsible for building a water tower above the city’s ancient Bridgegate. His Royalist sympathies and support for King Charles I would cost him dearly following the English Civil War, with much of his family wealth and estates being sequestrated by the Parliamentary authorities.

For their part, following the Royalist defeat at Rowton and their over-running of the eastern suburbs, the Parliamentarians now sought to strengthen their grip on the city. The northern suburbs of Chester soon fell to their forces and large siege cannons and mortars were brought in to attack the city’s massive stone defenses from both the east and the north. Cannons placed at St John’s church and in Foregate Street in the eastern suburbs were used to target and destroy royalist gun emplacements and to breach the city’s walls. Tyrer’s Water Tower and the Dee Mills, both of which stood in the southern section of the city close to the river, were said to have been severely damaged by cannons which were located at the nearby St John’s church.

Despite these measures, the Royalist defenders continued to hold the city itself and the defensive fort located at Handbridge on the southern bank of the river. From these positions they could continue to control military movement from the south and suppress the Parliamentarians within the immediate area of the fort. In order to deal with this threat the Parliamentary forces were said to have established a gun emplacement on the southern bank of the river, which was joined to the opposite northern bank by a bridge made up of individual boats. Nowadays, the location of this gun emplacement is said to be close to the area of the modern day meadows which is directly opposite the city’s Dee Lane which itself lies on the northern bank of the river.

On the 8^th of October 1645 the Parliamentarians were once again thought to have called for the city’s defenders to surrender, but once again this was rejected by its Royalist leaders. Following a heavy bombardment of Chester’s defenses by their cannons and mortars, the city walls were said to have been breached and the Parliamentary forces attempted to storm their way through the resulting gap. After much heavy hand-to-hand fighting however, the Royalist defenders apparently managed to repulse the attackers, but with many casualties suffered on both sides. Numerous attempts were made to scale the city’s eastern walls, between the modern day East Gate and Saddlers Tower which used to stand in the area of the present day “Kale Yard” gate, but all proved to be unsuccessful as the city’s defenses were so resolute.    

The beleaguered Royalist commanders were unable to prevent the constant bombarding and sniping of the city by the besieging Parliamentarians and were only too well aware of the falling morale amongst the local people and the military garrison. A plot was thought to have been hatched by the Royalists commanders to destroy the bridge of boats, which linked the Parliamentary gun emplacement on the south bank of the river with their forces on the opposite bank. Fire boats filled with gun powder were said to have been floated down the river towards the boat bridge but were said to have drifted off course and exploded harmlessly or failed to explode at all.

During the winter months of 1645 morale within the city was said to be at its lowest ebb, since the start of the conflict. The lack of food and fuel, the constant bombardment from the Parliamentary siege guns and the coldest winter for decades led to a deepening of the divisions which had been smoldering for months. Outside of the city, Brereton was not slow to exploit these opportunities and appealed to the townspeople directly to bring an end to the dispute. Whether or not there were those within the city that would have helped bring an end to the siege isn’t clear, but there was said to have been no direct reply to his advances. It was reported that as the city’s food stores slowly disappeared throughout the winter, the inhabitants of Chester finally resorted to eating the horses, cats and dogs that roamed throughout the city. It is also to be supposed that fuel for heating and cooking was widely supplemented by the use of materials taken from the city’s historic structures, particularly those that had been damaged or destroyed by enemy fire.

By the middle of January 1646 however, the situation was so dire that even the Mayor of the city was thought to be calling for direct negotiations between the two warring sides. By the 31^st of the month terms were said to have  finally been reached that were mutually acceptable to both parties. In return for the safe delivery of both the city and castle into Brereton’s hands, Royalist soldiers were said to have been permitted to leave the city with their arms, horses and valuables. Other forces were allowed to leave, but without their arms and mounts, Welsh born soldiers were allowed to return home, but Irish forces were to be imprisoned at the castle. Brereton also undertook to protect the local population’s properties and goods and to ensure that no damage was done to the city’s churches. The official surrender of the city was said to have taken place within the Great Shire Hall which adjoined the castle and which 20 years earlier had been reported as being totally dilapidated.

On the 3^rd of February 1646 the Royalist forces under their military commander Lord Byron evacuated the city and shortly afterwards Sir William Brereton headed the Parliamentary soldiers that moved in to take possession of Chester. Colonel Michael Jones was immediately appointed as military governor of the city, but despite the guarantees offered by Brereton some areas of the city were subject to occasional vandalism and looting by Parliamentary troops. During the siege itself, there were hundreds of deaths in the city, both military and civilian as a direct result of the armed conflict and a large proportion of the city’s buildings had been completely burnt down or severely damaged. It was thought that Cromwell himself had ordered that all Royalist castles should be destroyed, so that they couldn’t be used against his forces in the future. However, this was not the case at Chester and it has been suggested that both Cromwell and Brereton were mindful of its logistical importance and possible military use in the future.

Sir William Brereton was said to have played a pivotal role in the final battle of the first civil war, at Stow-on-the-wold where he accepted the surrender of Sir Jacob Astley, the Royalist commander in March 1646. Following Parliaments total victory over the Royalist cause, Brereton was richly rewarded for his services and was granted Eccleshall Castle in Staffordshire, as well as Croydon Palace, the former home of the Arch Bishop of Canterbury.

Following the war however, Brereton effectively retired from Public Life and played no part in the trial of Charles I, the second Civil War or the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. Following the Restoration of Charles II to the English throne, Croydon Palace was said to have been returned to its rightful owners, but Brereton was permitted to live there as a tenant, until his death in 1661.

A renowned family in Chester throughout the whole of the English Civil War period was the Holme family who were Heraldic Painters and Historians in the city. Randle Holme I was said to have been born around 1571 and was thought to be the founding member of a line of antiquaries and heralds who all shared the same name and were all natives of the city. Their family home was reported to have been the modern day Ye Olde Kings Head which is located in the Lower Bridge Street area of Chester and close to Gamull House.

Around 1587 this Randle was said to have been apprenticed to Thomas Chaloner, who was a Herald and had been Ulster King at Arms. Following his master’s death in 1598 however, Holme was thought to have inherited Chaloner’s papers as well as marrying the dead mans widow. It has also been reported that Holme may have succeeded Chaloner as Deputy of the Heralds College in Chester around 1600. He served as a city Sheriff in 1615 and was elected Mayor of Chester between 1633 and 1634. Upon his death he was reported to have been interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill, close to the city’s medieval castle in 1655.

Randle Holme II was thought to have been a key Royalist supporter during the first English Civil War and the subsequent siege of Chester. He was the second generation of a family of Heraldic painters and local historians and was thought to have assisted his father in his role as Deputy of the Heralds College in the city. He was elected as Mayor of Chester in 1643 and 1644, but did not live much beyond his own father’s death and was said to have been interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill in around 1659.

Randle Holme III was said to have been born around 1627 and was the third generation of local historians, writers and heraldic painters that lived in Chester. He has been called “The Great Randle” and was known to have co-authored a book entitled “The Academy of Armour” which was published in an unfinished form in 1688. The book was said to have remained incomplete due to Randle’s lack of funds, which might suggest a failing business or poor trading conditions in Chester generally. The manuscript is now held by the British Museum and forms part of their library. Randle was also thought to have written a series of articles and memoirs detailing the city’s role in the English Civil War and the subsequent siege of Chester.

It was also this particular Randle that was thought to have owned the “Old Lamb’s Row”, which was known to have stood close to the “Falcon Inn” in the city. Unhappily for the family’s heirs, the building was reported to have fallen into such a state of great disrepair that it simply collapsed around 1821. Although the family no doubt despaired, other locals were said to have celebrated its demise, as it had blocked easy access along the street for well over 150 years. Married three times Randle Holme III was reported to have died in 1699 and upon his death was interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill, along with his father and grandfather.

Randle Holme IV was thought to be the final member of the family to bear the name and who had all been Heraldic painters and local historians in the city. He was thought to have been a member of the Stationers Company and Deputy to Norroy, King of Arms, but does not appear to have been as successful or as notable as his predecessors.

Earlier generations of the Holme family were said to have been prolific collectors of historic materials that were particularly relevant to Chester and these 3 earlier generations had managed to amass thousands of pages of information on the subject. It was reputedly Randle Holme IV that sold the family collection to Robert Harley, the Earl of Oxford, because he was impoverished and needed to raise funds. Fortunately for the history of the Holme family, these archives were later donated to the British Museum and now form part of the Harleian Manuscript. In around 1711 it was recorded that Holme had then sold his Heraldic Painting business to a Mr Bassano and on his death was interred at the church of St Mary’s on the hill, along with his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

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