 Cowes Castle was used to house important visitors to the Isle of Wight and also as a prison; the captain of the castle had further responsibilities for managing the arrival of foreign vessels. When the English Civil War broke out in 1642 between the supporters of Charles I and Parliament, the castle was initially held for the King by its captain, Humphrey Turney. On 12 August, as tensions between the rival factions on the island increased, Turney personally fired one of the castle's guns at the nearby Parliamentary naval vessel Lion. An unidentified Scottish naval captain then came ashore on 16 August and captured Turney, before landing more men and taking the castle for Parliament, who held it for the rest of the war.
