The Siege Of Sheffield

This Father’s Day weekend, take the whole family to Sheffield to witness the stout Royalist defence against Parliamentarian bombardment!

On 18-19 June at Sheffield Works Department Sports & Social Club (Heeley Bank Road, Sheffield, S2 3GL), the Sealed Knot will reenact a skirmish from the English Civil War as the forces sent by the Parliamentarian general The Earl of Manchester take on the garrison left by the King’s general in the north, the Earl of Newcastle. Who will win and decide the fate of the town?

The opening of the fascinating Living History encampment will be announced at 11am with the firing of a cannon, beginning the displays of arms and armour throughout the day.

At 2.30pm, the attacking Parliamentarian army will march out with cannon and demand the surrender of the city’s Royalist garrison – but they will not be cowed and sally forth to take on the Roundheads!

On 11 October 1642, as England moved towards civil war, Sheffield and its castle was seized by Sir John Gell for the Parliamentarians but in spring the following year the Royalist forces led by the Earl of Newcastle entered Yorkshire and took Leeds, Wakefield, and Rotherham before approaching Sheffield. The town’s Parliamentary defenders of fled into Derbyshire allowing the Royalists to take the castle without a fight. Newcastle garrisoned the castle and held it until August 1644 when the Earl of Manchester sent Major-General Crawford and Colonel Pickering, a force of 1,200 soldiers to recapture Sheffield for the Parliamentarians. At first the castle resisted but when Parliament brought up larger cannon they opened a breach the castle wall, after which terms for the surrender were agreed.