Siege of Lathom House The Siege of Lathom House was a military confrontation between a Parliamentarian army and a Royalist stronghold in Lathom near Ormskirk in Lancashire . The first lasted from late February to late May 1644 , when the siege was lifted . The second siege took place a year later from July to December 1645 . Lathom House was captured and slighted . Background . James Stanley , 7th Earl of Derby was the leading Royalist adherent in the northwest of England when the Civil War broke out in 1642 . The family seat of the Stanleys was Lathom House . In 1643 , the Earl of Derby was ordered by King Charles to fortify the Isle of Man against a possible Scottish invasion , and then move on to the northern campaign . His wife , Charlotte de la Tremoüille , was left in charge of what turned out to be the last remaining Royalist stronghold in Lancashire . Sir Thomas Fairfax saw Derby ' s absence as an opportunity to strengthen the Long Parliament ' s position in Lancashire and set out to conquer Lathom House . Immediately after the fall of Warrington , the Roundheads requested that the countess acknowledge Parliament ' s authority and surrender her house , but she refused on the grounds that doing so would dishonour her husband . She offered to limit herself to defending her home , and this postponed further attacks on her position . First siege . When Fairfax arrived at Lathom House in February 1644 , the countess had made every effort to conceal the strength of the castle ' s fortifications . Fairfax demanded that the countess surrender Lathom House to him . She asked for a week to consider his offer , and then insisted that it was only appropriate that he visit her at Lathom House for further negotiations . He was received as an honoured guest , but the entire household categorically rejected his terms for surrendering . He gave her two more days to consider her situation . The emissary sent two days later was scornfully dismissed . The siege began with 2 , 000 Parliamentary soldiers ( 500 cavalry and 1500 infantry ) against a garrison of 300 . The fortifications of Lathom House consisted of : In addition , the castle was at the lowest point in the middle of an open expanse that allowed excellent views of the enemy ' s activities . Lady Charlotte had assembled a militia of seasoned marksmen who were able to inflict significant losses by sniping . John Seacome , an 18th century historian of the " House of Stanley " quoted from another account " A true and genuine account of the famous and ever memorable siege of Lathom - House in the County of Lancaster " : The fortifications sustained continuous cannon and mortar fire with minimal damage . The Royalists launched several successful sorties to disrupt Roundhead efforts to set up batteries . As a result , Parliamentary forces were unable to establish any major artillery positions against the castle , and the army refused to replenish those guns that were lost or spiked during the sorties . Morale among the Roundheads also suffered greatly as the besieged shot soldiers and engineers on the battlefield . Nevertheless , Fairfax persisted in demanding that Lady Charlotte surrender to his forces , going so far as to obtain a letter from Lord Stanley asking for safe passage for her . She refused to surrender under any terms , rebuking messengers in increasingly disdainful tones . After one particularly audacious sortie in late April that destroyed several Roundhead positions , Fairfax declared a day of fasting and prayer in his camp . One of the chaplains invoked the following verse from Jeremiah 50 : 14 : Captain Hector Schofield , a messenger from Colonel Rigby of the Roundheads , arrived to offer Lady Charlotte an honourable surrender . She threatened to hang him from the tower gates , then asked him to convey the following while she tore the message : A similar ultimatum issued by Rigby on 23 May prompted Lady Charlotte to respond : " The mercies of the wicked are cruel . . . unless they treated with her lord , they should never take her or any of her friends alive " . The siege was lifted on the night of 27 May as the Royalist general Prince Rupert approached Lathom with thousands of cavalry and infantry . Lady Charlotte and her household departed for the Isle of Man . leaving the care of Lathom House to Colonel Edward Rawstorne . Second siege . After the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Marston Moor , which was fought 2 July 1644 , the north of England was largely under Parliamentary control apart from areas close to Royalist garrisons such as Lathom House . The next year in July ( 1645 ) , 4 , 000 of Parliamentary troops returned to begin the second siege . Their commander Colonel Peter Egerton made Ormskirk his headquarters while his men encamped on Aughton Moss ( or Aughton Moor ) , near Aughton Mill . Trenchfield House , on the site of this encampment , still retains the name . The garrison did not capitulate quickly , but when it became clear that no relief could be expected , and supplies were running short , famine forced Colonel Rawstorne ' s hand and he surrender at discretion to Colonel Egerton on 2 December 1645 . Aftermath . The fall of Lathom House was regarded as an event of the first importance by the Parliamentry party . Besides the material gain of twelve pieces of cannon and a large store of arms and ammunition , the Republicans had achieved a great moral triumph in the fall of the famous royalist house , and an order was issued by the House of Commons " for the ministers about London to give public thanks to God , on the next Lord ' s Day , for its surrender " . After the Restoration the property was regained by the Derby family , and in the early part of the last century it was occasionally inhabited by them , but Knowsley Hall succeeded Lathom House as the principal seat of the Stanley family .