1643 1644 1645 1646 The siege of Arundel took place during the First English Civil War, from 19 December 1643 to 6 January 1644, when a Royalist garrison surrendered to a Parliamentarian army under Sir William Waller.

In an October 1643 offensive led by Sir Ralph Hopton, the Royalists advanced into Sussex, where a small garrison at Arundel Castle surrendered without fighting on 2 December.

[b] Hopton's policy of trying to hold as many towns as possible left individual garrisons isolated, while the Royalists lacked a mobile field army, capable of quickly supporting threatened positions.

Arundel was attacked by a large Parliamentarian force on 19 December; although strongly held, severe weather and poor roads meant it could not be relieved, and surrendered on 6 January.

When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, Parliamentarian forces secured most of southern England, including the ports of Southampton and Dover, as well as the bulk of the Royal Navy.

The Royalists established winter quarters at various points in West Sussex and Hampshire, including Alresford, Alton and Petersfield, although senior officers warned they were too far apart for mutual support.

On 2 December, a small Parliamentarian garrison at Arundel Castle surrendered to Edward Ford, former Sheriff of Sussex, after 36 men blew in the gate with a petard.

The governor, Colonel Joseph Bampfield, was an experienced soldier, who constructed additional earthwork defences to the north and south-west of the town, while bringing in provisions from the surrounding countryside.

[8] He immediately assaulted the outer defences on 20 December, which were captured after an initial repulse; Lt-Colonel John Birch was shot in the stomach, allegedly surviving only because the cold weather stemmed the flow of blood.

On 27 December, he advanced from Winchester with 2,000 horse, and 1,500 infantry; leaving a skeleton force to continue the siege, Waller intercepted him at North Marden, 15 miles from Arundel.

[19] A detailed description of the impact of the siege on Arundel was provided by the wife of Sir William Springett, Lady Mary, who describes it as 'depopulated, all the windows broke with the guns, and the soldiers making stables of all the shops and lower rooms.'