FORT CHARLES. 



CHAPTER X. 



"One lonely turret, shattered and out-worn, 

 Stands venerably proud— too proud to mourn 

 Its long-lost grandeur." 



Perhaps no period of English history is more momentous 

 than that of the Civil Wars, in the time of Charles I.; nor 

 was the share which this neighbourhood and the adjacent 

 towns had in these events of inferior importance. 



Long before the rebuilding of the castle at Salcombe, 

 collisions took place between the forces of. the King and 

 the Parliament in this neighbourhood. The Royalists were 

 quartered at Tavistock, Plympton, and Modbury.f Ply- 

 mouth seems to have supported the Parliament throughout, 

 and shewed a remarkable spirit of disaffection; and being 

 strong, often sallied out to the Royalists at Plympton, 

 Modbury, and elsewhere, generally bringing back prisoners, 

 and arms, and also cattle. | 



In 1642, Sir Edmund Fortescue was High Sheriff of 

 Devon. He has been known to us mostly as being Governor 



* Although this chapter is headed " Fort Charles," yet it includes many 

 particulars respecting the Civil Wars, as affecting this neighbourhood 

 generally. 



f Moore. 



X Whitelocke. 



