35 



to the advanced age of eighty, and was slain after all Bword in hand at tha 

 battle of Ch&tillon in 1453. His son joined the Lancastrians, and was slain at 

 Northampton in 1460. The castle was then forfeited to the Crown, and granted 

 by Edward IV. to the zealous Yorkist, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. 

 John, the 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, made peace with the King, and got the 

 castle and estates restored, but it ceased to be the principal seat of residence, 

 and on the death of the 7th Earl, it went by marriage to Henry Grey, Earl 

 of Kent. 



Thirty years afterwards the most interesting event in its history took 

 place — 



THE SIEGE OF GOODRICH CASTLE DURING THE CIVIL WAR. 



The fortress had at first been held by the Parliamentrians — when Col. 

 Kirle was the Governor under Lord Stamford, and when it was the centre from 

 which the Roundheads made many forays — but somehow or other in 1646 that 

 staunch Royalist, Sir Henry Lingen, was Governor. He had with him Lieut. - 

 Col. Roger Lingen, Mr. Ralph Lingen, and many other gentlemen of the county, 

 of the families of Pye, Bodenham, Lochard, Cornwall, Vaughan, Skipper, 

 "Wigmore, Hill, Strete, fee., and a strong garrison. The castle was well provi- 

 sioned moreover for a siege. 



All this was well known, and it was arranged to make a sudden attack 

 on Goodrich Castle with all the disposeable parliamentary forces in the neigh- 

 bourhood. On March 10th, 1640, Colonel Birch drew out a party of horse and 

 foot from Hereford, and, joining Colonel Kirle's horse and dragoons from Mon- 

 mouth, with Captain Rumsey's firelocks, they commenced the attack. The 

 stables fell into their hands at once. They took 64 horses, with the hay and 

 other provisions therein, burnt down the building, and laid close siege to the 

 castle. This account is from a newspaper of the period called the Perfect Diurnal 

 from March 10th to the 23rd, 1646. This newspaper, and another called Perfect 

 Occurrences, give very interesting notices with reference to the siege. The 

 following passages are taken from them under the dates attached : — 



June 5th, 1646. — "Col. Birch begs the committee to let him have some 

 battering pieces for Gutheridge, ' else,' he says, ' I may sit down long enough 

 before it, Lingen being an excepted person, and one unto whom I cannot grant 

 any honourable terms.'" 



June 12th. — "Letters from Hereford dated June 1st advertise of Col. 

 Birch being before Gutheridge with a considerable body of horse and foot, and 

 two mortar pieces and other equipage. The great iron culverin was going from 

 Gloucester thither, and Col. Birch hath sent to the committee of Salop for two 

 guns from Ludlow, yet the enemy within are very resolute and not lavish in 

 their ammunition. . . . Lieut. • Col. Keckerman hath received a wound by an 

 almost spent bullet from a musket in his leg, and intends to be removed to 

 Hereford to be cured." 



