In August, 1642, King Charles first raised his standard outside Nottingham, calling on all his loyal subjects to join him in his fight against parliament. The conflict that was to last, in one form or another, for the next 18 years had begun. Generally known as the English Civil Wars, but more accurately the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, it divided the country, pitting father against son, brother against brother, family against family. The last Lord Scrope had died in 1630, leaving Bolton Castle to his illegitimate son and daughters. John Jeans Scrope held the castle for his king for three years, surviving a long siege, only surrendering on November 5th 1645, when all the food had run out.
Come and meet the garrison, listen to their stories of life in the 17th Century, then see who you would have fought for in those turbulent times, which many contemporaries viewed as a ‘war without an enemy’ in a ‘World turned upside down’.
Included in admission
