Qualla: Siege of Gloucester

Siege of Gloucester: Introduction

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wenceslaus Hollar, Public domain. On 10 August 1643 a herald rode up to Gloucester's south gate carrying a demand for surrender from Charles I. The city's governor, a 23-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel named Edward Massey, sent back the kind of insolent refusal that ends in someone losing their head. Then the Parliamentarians inside the walls set fire to their own suburbs to deprive the Royalists of cover. The smoke had not cleared when Charles realised what he had walked into. Bristol had fallen to his armies two weeks earlier with thousands of casualties, and he had marched on Gloucester believing the city would crumble at the mere sight of his banners. It did not crumble. For the next twenty-six days, the king sat in a country house at Matson, two miles south of the walls, and watched his army fail to take a city of five thousand souls.

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Image: Wenceslaus Hollar | Public domain

Siege of Gloucester: Why Gloucester Mattered

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Traveler100, CC BY-SA 3.0. If Charles took Gloucester, he could supply his garrisons all the way up the Severn to Worcester and Shrewsbury from Bristol. He could tax wealthy Gloucestershire. He could move Welsh recruits and money freely across the country. He could choke off Parliament's last serious footh...

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Image: Traveler100 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Siege of Gloucester: An Inadequate Bombardment

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Factotem, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Royalists had only eight cannon and two mortars. One of the mortars, reportedly the largest in England, exploded the first time it fired. The remaining guns were too light for serious siege work. They opened up on 13 August. By 14 August, the breach they had blown in the sout...

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Image: Factotem | CC BY-SA 4.0

Siege of Gloucester: Massey's Raids

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Factotem, CC BY-SA 4.0. What Massey did instead of waiting was attack. With a garrison of just 1,500 men - two half-strength regiments plus dragoons, trained band and a single troop of cavalry - he mounted raid after raid out of the gates. On 16 August, 150 musketeers sallied from the north gate at suns...

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Image: Factotem | CC BY-SA 4.0

Siege of Gloucester: Miners from the Forest of Dean

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Factotem, CC BY-SA 4.0. When the guns failed, Charles turned to digging. Royalist engineers brought in miners from the Forest of Dean and later Welsh miners to tunnel beneath Gloucester's walls. The plan was to fill the moat with fascines, undermine the foundations, and blow a hole into the city. It was...

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Image: Factotem | CC BY-SA 4.0

Siege of Gloucester: Essex Arrives

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wenceslaus Hollar, Public domain. On 26 August, the Earl of Essex had marched out of London at the head of 10,500 infantry and 4,500 cavalry. His route was carefully chosen - north of Oxford, across the Cotswolds, avoiding the open country where Royalist cavalry would have the advantage. Prince Rupert was sent to...

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Image: Wenceslaus Hollar | Public domain