Wessex . on ; and the career of Robert Carr, the Earl ofSomerset, its next owner, closed in ignominy andshame. It then reverted to the Crown, and passed bygrant of King James to Sir George Digby, afterwardscreated Earl of Bristol. During the Civil War in 1642 it was early attackedby the Parliamentary forces under the Earl of Bedford,being defended by the Marquis of Hertford. By astrange chance the besieging Earls sister. Lady AnnDigby, was staying at the castle. She rode to herbrothers quarters with the object of persuading himto abandon the siege, telling him, when she foundhim obdurate, that
Wessex . on ; and the career of Robert Carr, the Earl ofSomerset, its next owner, closed in ignominy andshame. It then reverted to the Crown, and passed bygrant of King James to Sir George Digby, afterwardscreated Earl of Bristol. During the Civil War in 1642 it was early attackedby the Parliamentary forces under the Earl of Bedford,being defended by the Marquis of Hertford. By astrange chance the besieging Earls sister. Lady AnnDigby, was staying at the castle. She rode to herbrothers quarters with the object of persuading himto abandon the siege, telling him, when she foundhim obdurate, that if he continued in his attempts todemolish the castle he should find his sisters bonesburied beneath its ruins. This appeal, however,had no effect on the Earl, who appears to haveredoubled his efforts to gain possession of the fortress ;and so hard pressed did the besieged become thatthe Marquis at last offered to surrender on certainconditions, and threatened that if these were not 116 SHERBOKNE COLLEGE. Siege of Sherborne Castle accepted he would place the Earls sister as a flag ofdefiance above the battlements. The Earl seems tohave at last been softened in his purpose, and on thefifth day he raised the siege. Three years later, when the castle was under thegovernorship of Sir Lewis Dives, it was attacked byGeneral Fairfax, and capitulated after a siege of sixteendays. A large number of Royalist gentlemen, includ-ing Sir Lewis Dives and Sir John Strangeways, werecaptured ; and the castle, as was the case with manyanother that had held out for the King, was destroyedby order of the Parliament, and eventually some ofthe material was taken from the ruins for the purposeof building the present mansion, and the church atCastleton. The last historical incident of any importanceconnected with Sherborne Castle occurred in 1688,when William of Orange, on his way to London, afterlanding in Torbay, slept one night at the presentmansion. Of the once strong and famous fortress little no
Size: 1345px × 1858px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1906
