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During the reign of Charles I Sir John Hippisley, Lieutenant of Dover Castle, said that 'the castles in the Downs must be repaired or the country cannot be in safety in the event of a war with France'.
During the early 17th century the Downs castles had been neglected, the morale of the poorly paid garrison was low as a result the castles were becoming ruinous. In October 1615, during the reign of James I, the Captain of Sandown Castle, John Heyden, reported the sea wall had perished and the stonework and lead had decayed. The bridge and stairways were rotten and the windows broken. In May 1616 a detailed survey of the castles was carried out, ordered by the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Lord Zouch, to estimate the 'most needful reparations.' At Sandown it said the 'sea soketh into the mote or ditch every spring tyde.' the total estimate for cost of repairs for Sandown was £437, however the castle remained in a perilous state.
In 1634 a survey by the king's engineer for fortifications, Lieutenant-Colonel Paperill, estimated it would need £1,243 16s to put Sandown Castle in proper order. However, nothing came of it and further petitions for funds were sent to the Lord Treasurer; shortly after a request in March 1637 the stonework of the gate at Walmer Castle did literally fall down when a supporting timber gave way. In the same year it was reported Walmer did not have 'one piece of ordnance mounted'. and only 'four serviceable muskets' and no gunpowder.[1] The Captain of Sandown Castle, Sir John Pennington was hoping to get funds to repair the castle in the spring of 1639 or 'it will fall down and endanger the lives of those that live in it.'
The Civil War was officially declared on 22 August 1642. The castles in the Downs were held by the Royalist forces. However, a rapid campaign into Kent by the Parliamentarians raided a number of Royalist houses and fortifications; Deal Castle was seized on 29 August.
The Royalists reoccupied the castles in the Downs during the revolt of 1648. Parliamentary forces, under the command of Colonel Nathaniel Rich, were sent to recapture the castles. A force of 2,000 infantry and troop of cavalry laid siege to one castle at a time, although they had no artillery with them. The summer of 1648 was exceedingly wet and rather cold; described at the time as worse than several of the past winters. The Parliamentary forces had several setbacks: they dug trenches, but they became waterlogged, heavy ordnance was in short supply, although some mortars arrived, but nobody to fire them.
They started with Walmer which, with a garrison of 60, surrendered on 12 July 1648. A number of ships in the Downs had revolted and joined the Royalists, and they crossed to Holland to pick up the Prince of Wales and Prince Rupert. Additional Parliamentary forces under the command of Sir Michael Livesey were sent down to assist Colonel Rich in case the revolted ships attempted a landing.
An attempted landing was expected from the ships in the Downs. They had just returned from Holland with the Prince of Wales, Prince Rupert. On the 15 July some of the ships fired ineffectually upon Rich's troops, and the same day the troops in Deal Castle sallied forth in an attempted to surprise the Parliamentarians, but were repulsed. There were also attempts to send relief to the castles from the ships anchored offshore.
On the 4 August some troops landed, under Lord Hopton and Sir John Boys, but Colonel Rich' troop of horse charged and drove the Royalists soldiers back to their ships. A few days later, a party of 80 landed and captured the Halfway Houses between Sandwich and Sandown, but Sir Michael Livesey's troop of horse charged and routed them, killing about 8 and putting the rest to flight. A contemporary letter describes the skirmish:
"A party of some 80 of his [Prince Rupert's] men, under the command of one Aldridge, a cheesemonger, who lived some time in Bread Street . . . they fall upon a small party of Sir Michael Livesey's foot, who were on guard at the two houses, which we call the half-way houses, between Sandwich and Sandown, beat them off, and took possession of the houses. Sir Michael's horse taking alarm, charged the enemy with abundance of gallantry, routed the Party, wounded many, killed eight or nine upon the place, and put the rest (they having first fired the Warriner's house) to flight. Among the prisoners taken, Aldridge was one ..."
On 14 August a more serious landing attempt was made. A force of 500 soldiers, 300 mariners and 100 officers, under Major General Gibson and Sir John Boys, were sent from the ships with orders to attack Colonels Rich and Hewson in their trenches. A contemporary account describes the skirmish:
"They marched by Upper Deal in good order, and on being discovered, 300 musketeers were drawn off under Colonel Hewson, and Major Husbands with 100 horse. The Princes's forces marched up with great resolution and to prevent the Parliament's horse from annoying them had marsh ground for their action and retreat, which put the horse upon a loss knowing how to engage, but Major Husbands wheeled about in a way of retreat. This occasioned the Prince's men to advance to firmer ground in confidence of victory, which the Parliament's horse took advantage of, flanked the Prince's men, and were almost in the rear of them. The 300 musketeers at the same charged the Prince's men and put them in disorder, and the Parliament's men fell to execution."
About 180 of the Prince's men were killed in the skirmish or in the pursuit across the Sandhills. Many fled to Sandown Castle, where forces came out to assist them; about 100 managed to get back to their ships.
The Parliamentarians captured 73 prisoners and 300 arms. Colonel Rich's losses were small, he lost his Quartermaster and Major Husbands had the heel of his boot shot off; his Lieutenant was shot in the knee, three horsemen and four foot soldiers were also killed, along with 18 wounded soldiers and the loss of ten or twelve horses. The captured Royalists included Major General Gibson, the Commander-in-Chief, who was wounded; Sir John Boys was shot in the stomach, although the buckle of his hanger absorbed most of the impact of the bullet; he also sustained a cut to the neck and a wounded head from the butt of a musket.[2] Colonel Rich claimed that most of those who escaped were wounded.
Deal Castle yielded to the Parliamentary forces on 25 August 1648. Arrows were fired into the Sandown Castle to convey news of the Royalists' defeat at the battle of Preston (17 August). Sandown held out for another eleven days, and surrendered on 5 September.
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