Siege of Lathom House
Encyclopedia
The Siege of Lathom House was a military confrontation between a Parliamentarian
army and a Royalist
stronghold in Lathom
near Ormskirk
in Lancashire
. It lasted from late February to late May 1644, when the siege was lifted.
was the leading Royalist adherent in the northwest of England when the Civil War broke out in 1642. The family seat of the Stanleys was Lathom House. In 1643, the Earl of Derby was ordered by King Charles
to fortify the Isle of Man
against a possible Scottish invasion, and then move on to the northern campaign. His wife, Charlotte de la Tremoüille
, was left in charge of what turned out to be the last remaining Royalist stronghold in Lancashire. Sir Thomas Fairfax
saw Derby's absence as an opportunity to strengthen the Long Parliament's position in Lancashire and set out to conquer Lathom House. Immediately after the fall of Warrington
, the Roundheads requested that the countess acknowledge Parliament's authority and surrender her house, but she refused on the grounds that doing so would dishonour her husband. She offered to limit herself to defending her home, and this postponed further attacks on her position.
The siege began with 2,000 Parliamentary soldiers (500 cavalry and 1500 infantry) against a garrison of 300. The fortifications of Lathom House consisted of:
In addition, the castle was at the lowest point in the middle of an open expanse that allowed excellent views of the enemy's activities. Lady Charlotte had assembled a militia of seasoned marksmen who were able to inflict significant losses by sniping.
John Seacome, historian of the House of Stanley wrote in the 18th century:
The fortifications sustained continuous cannon and mortar fire with minimal damage. The Royalists launched several successful sorties to disrupt Roundhead efforts to set up batteries. As a result, Parliamentary forces were unable to establish any major artillery
positions against the castle, and the army refused to replenish those guns that were lost or spiked during the sorties. Morale among the Roundheads also suffered greatly as the besieged shot soldiers and engineers on the battlefield.
Nevertheless, Fairfax persisted in demanding that Lady Charlotte surrender to his forces, going so far as to obtain a letter from Lord Stanley asking for safe passage for her. She refused to surrender under any terms, rebuking messengers in increasingly disdainful tones.
After one particularly audacious sortie in late April that destroyed several Roundhead positions, Fairfax declared a day of fasting and prayer in his camp. One of the chaplains invoked the following verse from Jeremiah
50:14:
Captain Hector Schofield, a messenger from Colonel Rigby
of the Roundheads, arrived to offer Lady Charlotte an honourable surrender. She threatened to hang him from the tower gates, then asked him to convey the following while she tore the message:
A similar ultimatum issued by Rigby on 23 May prompted Lady Charlotte to respond: "The mercies of the wicked are cruel .... unless they treated with her lord, they should never take her or any of her friends alive."
The siege was lifted on the night of 27 May as the Royalist general Prince Rupert
approached Lathom with thousands of cavalry and infantry. Lady Charlotte and her household departed for the Isle of Man, and in December of 1645 Lathom House was taken and destroyed by parliamentarian forces under the command of Colonel Egerton. Knowsley Hall
succeeded Lathom House as the principal seat of the Stanley family.
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
army and a Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
stronghold in Lathom
Lathom
Lathom is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, about 5 km northeast of Ormskirk. It is in the district of West Lancashire, and with the parish of Newburgh forms part of Newburgh ward...
near Ormskirk
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in West Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Liverpool city centre, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston.-Geography and administration:...
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. It lasted from late February to late May 1644, when the siege was lifted.
Background
James Stanley, 7th Earl of DerbyJames Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby KG was a supporter of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.Born at Knowsley, he is sometimes styled the Great Earl of Derby, eldest son of William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby and Lady Elizabeth de Vere. During his father's life he was known as Lord Strange...
was the leading Royalist adherent in the northwest of England when the Civil War broke out in 1642. The family seat of the Stanleys was Lathom House. In 1643, the Earl of Derby was ordered by King Charles
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
to fortify the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
against a possible Scottish invasion, and then move on to the northern campaign. His wife, Charlotte de la Tremoüille
Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby
Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby , born Charlotte de La Trémoille, was the daughter of the French nobleman Claude de La Trémoille, Duke of Thouars, and his wife Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau...
, was left in charge of what turned out to be the last remaining Royalist stronghold in Lancashire. Sir Thomas Fairfax
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron was a general and parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War...
saw Derby's absence as an opportunity to strengthen the Long Parliament's position in Lancashire and set out to conquer Lathom House. Immediately after the fall of Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, the Roundheads requested that the countess acknowledge Parliament's authority and surrender her house, but she refused on the grounds that doing so would dishonour her husband. She offered to limit herself to defending her home, and this postponed further attacks on her position.
The siege
When Fairfax arrived at Lathom House in February 1644, the countess had made every effort to conceal the strength of the castle's fortifications. Fairfax demanded that the countess surrender Lathom House to him. She asked for a week to consider his offer, and then insisted that it was only appropriate that he visit her at Lathom House for further negotiations. He was received as an honoured guest, but the entire household categorically rejected his terms for surrendering. He gave her two more days to consider her situation. The emissary sent two days later was scornfully dismissed.The siege began with 2,000 Parliamentary soldiers (500 cavalry and 1500 infantry) against a garrison of 300. The fortifications of Lathom House consisted of:
- Outer walls and embankments six feet thick
- An 8-yard moat
- 9 towers, each with six cannon, three pointing in either direction, and the Eagle Tower providing an excellent overview of the battlefield.
In addition, the castle was at the lowest point in the middle of an open expanse that allowed excellent views of the enemy's activities. Lady Charlotte had assembled a militia of seasoned marksmen who were able to inflict significant losses by sniping.
John Seacome, historian of the House of Stanley wrote in the 18th century:
...upon a flat, upon a moorish, springy, and spumous ground ; was at the time of the siege encompassed by a strong wall of two yards thick. Upon the wall were nine towers flanking each other, and in every tower were six pieces of ordnance, that played three the one way and three the other. Within the wall was a moat, eight yards wide and two yards deep; upon the brink of the moat, between the wall and the graff, was a strong row of palisadoes surrounding the whole, and, to add to these securities, there was a high tower, called the Eagle Tower, in the midst of the house, sur rounding (surmounting?) all the rest ; and the gatehouse was also a strong and high building, with a strong. tower on each side of it; and in the entrance to the first court, upon the top of these towers, were placed the best and choicest marksmen, who had been accustomed to attend the Earl in his field sports, with their fowling-pieces, which they levelled at the enemy, marking particularly the officers wherever they appeared in their trenches. Nature seemed to have formed the house for a stronghold. The situation of the house might be compared to the palm of a man's hand-flat in the middle and covered with rising ground around it, so that during the siege the enemy was never able to raise a battery against it, or to make a single practicable breach in the wall. The works of the besiegers formed a line of circumvallation drawn round about the house at the distance of 60 or 100 or 200 yards from the wall, as best suited the ground, consisting of an open trench, a yard of ditch, and a yard of turf, with eight sconces raised in such places as might annoy the besieged in the sally, directis lateribus, and in some places staked and palisadoed.[Memoirs; containing a genealogical and historical account of the ancient and honourable house of Stanley, from the Conquest to the death of James, Earl of Derby in the year 1735; as also a full description of the Isle of Man, &c.
SEACOME. John
2 pt. Liverpool: Printed by A[dam] Saddler, [1741.] 4o. {139.c.23. } ]
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
positions against the castle, and the army refused to replenish those guns that were lost or spiked during the sorties. Morale among the Roundheads also suffered greatly as the besieged shot soldiers and engineers on the battlefield.
Nevertheless, Fairfax persisted in demanding that Lady Charlotte surrender to his forces, going so far as to obtain a letter from Lord Stanley asking for safe passage for her. She refused to surrender under any terms, rebuking messengers in increasingly disdainful tones.
After one particularly audacious sortie in late April that destroyed several Roundhead positions, Fairfax declared a day of fasting and prayer in his camp. One of the chaplains invoked the following verse from Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
50:14:
Put yourselves in array against Babylon on every side: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
Captain Hector Schofield, a messenger from Colonel Rigby
Alexander Rigby
Alexander Rigby was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and 1650. He was a colonel in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.-Life:...
of the Roundheads, arrived to offer Lady Charlotte an honourable surrender. She threatened to hang him from the tower gates, then asked him to convey the following while she tore the message:
Carry this answer back to Rigby, and tell that insolent rebel, he shall have neither persons, goods, nor house. When our strength and provisions are spent, we shall find a fire more merciful than Rigby; and then, if the providence of God prevent it not, my goods and house shall burn in his sight; and myself, children, and soldiers, rather than fall into his hands will seal our religion and loyalty in the same flames.
A similar ultimatum issued by Rigby on 23 May prompted Lady Charlotte to respond: "The mercies of the wicked are cruel .... unless they treated with her lord, they should never take her or any of her friends alive."
The siege was lifted on the night of 27 May as the Royalist general Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...
approached Lathom with thousands of cavalry and infantry. Lady Charlotte and her household departed for the Isle of Man, and in December of 1645 Lathom House was taken and destroyed by parliamentarian forces under the command of Colonel Egerton. Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, in Merseyside, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by of...
succeeded Lathom House as the principal seat of the Stanley family.
Popular culture
- The folk-rock band Steeleye SpanSteeleye SpanSteeleye Span are an English folk-rock band, formed in 1969 and remaining active today. Along with Fairport Convention they are amongst the best known acts of the British folk revival, and were among the most commercially successful, thanks to their hit singles "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat"....
memorialized the siege in the title song of their album They Called Her BabylonThey Called Her BabylonThey Called Her Babylon is an album by the electric folk band Steeleye Span.The album, the band's 18th studio album, was released in 2004. The album is perhaps most noteworthy for the return of Maddy Prior, the band's most central member, who had departed the band in 1996...
. - Stonework reclaimed form the Siege of Lathom House were used in the construction of the Great hall of the nearby 'Lancashire Manor Hotel'.