The Parliamentarian force of Colonel-General Sydnam Poyntz attacked the Royalist outpost of Shelford House, which was one of a group of strongholds defending the strategically important town of Newark-on-Trent.

With the Royalist garrison having lost 80 per cent of its men killed, mostly the Catholics, the storming of Shelford House was a highly violent affair; because of this the Parliamentarians declined to use it for propaganda.

Chesterfield's main seat in Derbyshire was quickly taken by Parliamentarian forces, and so he used Shelford as headquarters for a troop of cavalry with which he led patrols into the Vale of Belvoir.

[1][4] As part of his plans for fortifications Henderson set up a series of mutually supportive defensive locations that would act as a buffer between Newark and Parliamentarian attacks.

He was the lieutenant-colonel in command of the Duke of Gloucester's Regiment of Horse situated at Shelford, and as governor he then also gained control of the small number of infantrymen stationed there as part of the garrison.

[6][10] The house was used as a forward observation post and also served as the staging point for raids from Newark into Nottingham, which succeeded in causing much damage to Parliamentarian outposts and the countryside.

[14][15] By the time of its arrival at Shelford, the regiment had been severely depleted through action, having gained an ugly reputation for vicious crimes and attacks during events such as the Battle of Burton Bridge in 1643 and the sack of Leicester in 1645.

[Note 1][17][18][13] As part of this Hutchinson provided a group of 400 men from his town to join Poyntz, but the force was still not of a size to compete with the main Royalist formations.

[17][19] Ordered to get closer to Charles to ensure he could not escape before larger Parliamentarian armies reached Newark and in need of action to fend off a possible mutiny from his underpaid and underfed soldiers, Poyntz went on the offensive.

Shelford House, with its large garrison of cavalry, would be a dangerous thorn in an army's side if left alone to attack the supply lines of the advancing Parliamentarians, and so Hutchinson urged Poyntz to choose it as his first target.

In fear for his life, the boy revealed all he knew about Shelford House's improved defences and disclosed where the palisades were weakest, which had previously been only vaguely known to the Parliamentarians.

"[23]Fearing any further delay at Shelford would allow the Newark and Belvoir garrisons to come to the house's aid, Poyntz launched his assault at 4 p.m. on the same day, with Hutchinson given direct command of the attacking party.

Finally a group of dismounted cavalry under the command of Major Christopher Ennis succeeded in breaking into Shelford's gatehouse, opening the drawbridge over the moat and allowing Poyntz to reinforce Hutchinson's beleaguered men inside.

[28] While it was already expected that no quarter would be given to Stanhope and his men, Poyntz now faced the added possibility of a Royalist relief force arriving while his soldiers were still fighting inside Shelford House, which would leave them cornered.

[1][28] Around 160 of the defenders, or 80 per cent of Stanhope's original force, were killed in the ensuing attack before Poyntz halted his men; most of the dead were from the Queen's Regiment who had received little mercy.

[41][42][43] Despite the clear victory at Shelford, Parliamentarian writers did not emphasise it because they wished to avoid drawing comparisons to the Royalist massacres of foreign forces that had also taken place, which would have damaged their image of being morally better than their opponents.

[36] Chesterfield had pamphlets made to highlight the barbarous nature of the attack on his house, but these were not very successful and Royalists were uninterested in putting the mostly Catholic garrison in the way of martyrdom.

[1] Despite this, the attack and massacre have been overlooked in most works on the English Civil War in favour of other more notorious events that were publicised by the Royalists or Parliamentarians during the conflict to bolster support for their causes.