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Newcastle University
National Civil War Centre

Battles & Sieges

Find out about some of the key Civil War battles and sieges.

British Civil Wars > Weapons & Warfare > Battles & Sieges

What were the key battles of the British Civil Wars? Why was the town of Newark besieged three times? What was it like to be involved in the siege of Newcastle? Find out answers to all these questions in this section.

Did you know?

The British Civil wars lasted for 9 years from 1642-1651, but most of the fighting (and the most famous battles took place during the First Civil War (1642-46).

Activities

Key battles of the Civil Wars

Print out the blank map. Use the information on the interactive map above to help you complete your map by adding the following information:

  • Name of battle
  • Date
  • Who won
  • An interesting fact

Civil War sieges

A siege involves an enemy force surrounding a town or building and cutting off essential supplies in an attempt to force those inside to surrender.

Many towns were besieged during the Civil Wars, including the northern towns of Newark and Newcastle.

Read the information about the sieges below and answer the questions on the worksheet to show what you have learned. 

The 3 sieges of Newark  

The Nottinghamshire town of Newark was besieged 3 times in the British Civil Wars.

The siege of Newcastle 

Newcastle was besieged in 1644.

Object encounter

Can you identify this 17th century object using the clues provided?

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Source-based activities

All source-based activities are in a downloadable PDF format.

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