Siege of Oxford The Siege of Oxford was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War . Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege , there were in fact three individual engagements that took place over a period of three years . The first engagement was in May 1644 , during which King Charles I escaped , thus preventing a formal siege . The second ( May 1645 ) had barely started when Sir Thomas Fairfax , who was never much interested in siege warfare , was given permission to stop and pursue the King to Naseby , which was more to his liking . The last siege ( May 1646 ) was actually a formal siege of some duration ; but the war was obviously over and negotiation , rather than arms , commanded chief attention . Fairfax was careful not to do too much damage , sent in food to the King ' s second son , James , and was happy to end it soon with easy and honourable terms before a bombardment occurred . The city during the civil war . Following the creation of the King ' s Oxford Parliament early in 1644 , Oxford was the centre of the Cavalier cause and the headquarters of the King ' s forces . This had both advantages and disadvantages as most of the citizens were undoubtedly favourable to the Roundhead cause , but were somewhat mollified by lucrative opportunity of supplying the court and garrison . The position of Oxford gave King Charles I the strategic advantage of controlling the Midland counties but the dangers and disadvantages of the city became increasingly manifest . Despite this , any suggestions of retreating to the south west were silenced , particularly by those enjoying the comfort of their college quarters . The King was at Christ Church and the Queen at Merton . The executive committee of the Privy Council met at Oriel ; St John ' s housed the French ambassador and the two Palatine princes Rupert and Maurice ; All Souls , New College , and Frewin Hall housed respectively the arsenal , the magazine and an ordnance factory ; while the mills in Osney became a powder factory . At New Inn Hall , the requisitioned college plate was melted down into " Oxford Crowns " , and at Carfax , there was a gibbet . College life continued , albeit on a restricted and disturbed scale . Master of Arts degrees were conferred on the future kings Charles II and James II and upon many more for similar non - academic reasons . During the sieges there was much poor strategy and miserable intelligence on both sides , and there was more friendliness between the belligerents than is usually found in such wars . The first siege . Late in May 1644 Edmund Ludlow joined William Waller at Abingdon to " block up " Oxford . On 27 May Waller attempted to cross the Isis at Newbridge , but was beaten back by Royalist Dragoon s . The following day , the Earl of Essex Robert Devereaux and his entire army forded the river at Sandford Ferry , halting on Bullingdon Green in full view of the city , while a small party of horse made a reconnaissance whilst the main body marched on to Islip , which they reached on 29 May and made quarters there . During the reconnaissance some of the Parliamentarian horse troops went up and down Headington Hill and had a few skirmishes near the Ports , although little damage was made on either side — the ' Work ' at St Clement ' s Port made three or four great shot at them , driving them back to the main body of troops . Sir Edward Walker noted that " His Majesty at this instant was on top of Magdalen College Tower , where he did exactly view their orders and motion " . On 30 May and 31 May the Parliamentarians made unsuccessful attempts to cross the River Cherwell at Gosford Bridge , and Earl of Cleveland Thomas Wentworth made a demonstration towards Abingdon , where Waller had a large force . On 2 June Waller forced the passage at Newbridge and a large force crossed the Isis in boats . The King hurriedly held council at Woodstock , finding time to hunt and dine there , in the late evening the King heard news that Waller was within three miles of Woodstock . Islip and the passes over the Cherwell were abandoned , leaving matches burning at the bridges to deceive the Parliamentarians , the Royalists retreated to Oxford , which was reached in the early morning of 3 June . Walker , noting that there was not enough supplies to last fourteen days , wrote " to have stayed and been besieged in Oxford with the whole army had been certainly in a few days to put himself and all into their hands " . It was decided the King should leave Oxford that night : the King ordered a large part of the army , with cannon , to march through Oxford towards Abingdon to provide a diversion . The King constituted a council to govern affairs in his absence and ordered all others who were to join him to be ready at the sound of trumpet . After a few hours the army returned from Abingdon , having successfully drawing off Waller . On the night of 3 June 1644 at about 9 p . m . the King and Prince Charles , accompanied by various Lords and a party of 2 , 500 musketeers , joined the body of horse , taking the van which then marched to Wolvercote and on to Yarnton towards Long Hanborough , Northleigh and Burford , which they reached at about 4 p . m . on 4 June . The army ' s Colours had been left standing and a further diversion was arranged by the 3 , 500 infantry left with the cannon in North Oxford . The Earl of Essex and his troops had crossed the River Cherwell and had some troops in Woodstock , while Waller and his forces were between Newbridge and Eynsham . Although without heavy baggage , the King ' s forces had some sixty to seventy carriages , a large troop to have got though undiscovered . The parliamentarian scouting was seriously at fault , unaided by the lack of co - operation between Essex and Waller , it led to a deplorable failure on the part of two large armies to counter the escape of the King . The escape was discovered too late and Waller , rather than Essex , was quick to pursue and managed to cut off some stragglers in Burford , but the King and his forces had got safely away and continued to march on to Worcester . A letter from Lord Digby to Prince Rupert dated 17 June 1644 , gives an indication of the immensity of the lost opportunities ; If Essex and Waller had either jointly pursued us , or attacked Oxford , all had been lost . In the one case Oxford had yielded up , not having a fortnight ' s provisions ; in the other Worcester had been lost . Following the unsuccessful attempt by Essex and Waller to capture the King and take Oxford , Sergeant - Major General Browne was appointed command of Parliamentarian forces , with orders for the reduction of Oxford , Wallingford , Banbury , and the Fort of Greenland House . On 8 June 1644 Browne held a council of war presiding over twelve chosen men and although he greatly troubled Oxford , there was no further attempt during the 1644 campaign season . The second siege . In the New Year , one of the first objectives of the New Model Army was the " blocking up " and siege of Oxford , initially intending that Oliver Cromwell and Browne go to Oxford , while Fairfax marched to the west . Fairfax was in Reading on 30 April 1645 and by 4 May had reached Andover , where he received orders to prevent Prince Rupert getting to Oxford . On 6 May Fairfax was ordered to join Cromwell and Browne at Oxford and to send 3 , 000 foot soldiers and 1 , 500 horse soldiers to relieve Taunton , which he accomplished on 12 May . The Committee had ordered a voluntary contribution from Oxfordshire , Buckinghamshire and Berkshire to raise forces to take Oxford and " not to be employed in any other service whatsoever " and on 17 May sent a letter to Fairfax about the blocking up and siege of Oxford . On 23 May the House of Commons gave the Committee of the Army orders to make provision for " such money and necessaries for the Siege of Oxford , as they shall receive from the Committee of Both Kingdoms , not exceeding £6 , 000 " and on the same day , £10 , 000 was to await Fairfax at Windsor , along with the following provision for a siege : On 21 May Fairfax is reported to have arrived at Oxford and so " straitens the place that they can take in no further provisions " , the following day raising a breastwork on the east side of the River Cherwell and erecting a bridge at Marston . On 23 May Fairfax was at Marston and his troops began crossing the river , the outhouses of Godstow House were fired , causing the occupants to evacuate to Oxford , and the house occupied by the Parliamentarians . On 26 May Fairfax put four regiments of foot soldiers with thirteen carriages by the newly erected bridge at Marston , the King ' s forces ' drowned ' the meadow , fired houses in the suburbs and placed a garrison at Wolvercote . Whilst viewing the ongoing works , Fairfax had a narrow escape from being shot . On the following day two of Fairfax ' s regiments — the white and the red — with two pieces of ordnance marched to Godstow House and on to Hinksey . The Auxiliaries on duty in Oxford ; the Lord Keeper , the Lord Treasurer , and the Mayor of Oxford marched before their Companies to the Guards . On 28 May Cromwell was sent to the Isle of Ely . In the evening of 29 May a " bullet of IX lb . weight " shot from the Parliamentarians warning - piece at Marston fell against the wall of the north side of the Hall in Christ Church . Meanwhile Gaunt House near Newbridge was under siege by Colonel Thomas Rainsborough with 600 foot soldiers and 200 horse . Next day the sound of firing at Gaunt House could be heard in Oxford and the following day Rainsborough took the house and 50 prisoners . In the early hours of the morning on 2 June the troops in Oxford made a sally and a party of foot and horse attacked the Parliamentarian Guard at Headington Hill , killing 50 and taking 96 prisoners , many seriously wounded . In the afternoon Parliamentarian forces drove off 50 cattle grazing in fields outside the East Gate . On 3 June the prisoners taken the day before were exchanged and the following day the siege was raised and the bridge over the River Cherwell was demolished . The Parliamentarian forces withdrew the troops from Botley and Hinksey , and also withdrew from their headquarters at Marston and on 5 June they completed evacuating Marston and Wolvercote . The reason for such a sudden withdrawal was that the King , Prince Rupert , Prince Maurice , and the Earl of Lindsey , Montagu Bertie and others had left Oxford on 7 May . In the meantime , Fairfax , who disliked spending time in siege warfare , had prevailed upon the Committee to allow him to lift the siege and follow the King . A letter by Fairfax to his father dated 4 June 1645 explains : I am sorry we should spend out time unprofitably before a town while the King hath power to strengthen himself . The Parliament is sensible of this now and therefore hath sent me directions to raise the Siege and march to Buckingham . It is the earnest desire of the Army to follow the King , but the endeavours of others prevent it hath so much prevailed . The third siege . The King returned to Oxford on 5 November 1645 to quarter for the winter . The Royalists planned to resume the campaign in the spring and sent Lord Astley to Worcester to collect a force from Wales ; on the journey back his troops were routed at Stow - on - the - Wold by Parliamentarian forces under the command of Sir William Brereton , Astley and his officers were taken prisoner . A letter from the King to the Queen dated 6 April 1646 advised her that he was expecting to be received into the Scots army . Another letter of his is dated 22 April : " I resolved — to venture breaking through the rebels quarters ( which upon my word was neither a safe nor an easy task ) " and that Rupert " was not forward " in the task , and that the King intended to travel in disguise to Lynn and on to Montrose by sea . The committee in London again ordered its forces to ' straiten ' Oxford . On 18 March there was a skirmish between the Oxford Horse and troops commanded by Colonel Charles Fleetwood and 2 , 000 Parliamentarians under the command of Rainsborough came into Woodstock . On 30 March Rainsborough ' s foot soldiers and all four of Fairfax ' s Horse were ordered to " such places as will wholly block up Oxford " and make the inhabitants " presently to live at the expense of their Stores " . On 3 April Browne , the Governor of Abingdon , was ordered to send fifty barrels of gunpowder to Rainsborough . On 4 April Colonel Henry Ireton was given orders by Fairfax to take three regiments of horse and one of dragoons to join those forces assembling for the ' straitening ' of Oxford . On 10 April the House of Commons referred to the Committee on the issue of " Stricter blocking up of Oxford , and guarding the pass between Oxford and London " , the Committee was directed to draw up a general summons to ask the King ' s garrisons to surrender under a penalty for refusal . On 15 April the sound of cannon firing against Woodstock Manor House could be heard in Oxford , and at about 6 p . m . Rainsborough ' s troops attacked but were beaten back , losing 100 men , their scaling ladders were taken and many others wounded . On 26 April the Manor House was surrendered , its Governor and his soldiers , without their weapons , returned to Oxford in the evening . There are two letters from Colonel Payne , commander of the garrison in Abingdon , to Browne — one dated 27 April reporting intelligence that the King went in disguise to London , making use of Fairfax ' s seal " which they had gotten cut in Oxford " ; the other is dated 29 April and provides a circumstantial account of the King ' s flight : On 30 April the House of Commons , having heard of the King ' s flight the previous day , issued orders that no person was to be allowed out of Oxford , on pass or otherwise , " except upon parley or treaty regarding the surrender of some garrison of fort , or otherwise advantageous for the reduction of the garrison at Oxford " . On 1 May Fairfax returned to Oxford and at once commenced preparations for the siege . On 2 May Parliamentarian foot soldiers entered the villages adjacent to Oxford and the head - quarters were fixed at Headington , with a rendezvous point at Bullingdon Green . On 3 May the Parliamentarians held a council of war where it was decided that a " Quarter " on Headington Hill should be made to hold 3 , 000 men . It was also decided to build a bridge over the River Cherwell at Marston , where Rainsborough was put in charge of a quarter . A quarter was made in north Oxford , where most of the foot soldiers were assembled to begin the ' approaches ' and another quarter was placed under Colonel Herbert at Cowley and the train of artillery was placed at Elsfield . Meanwhile the towns of Faringdon , Radcot , Wallingford and Boarstall House were completely ' blocked up ' and isolated from Oxford . Under cannon shot from the city , Fairfax ' s men began to construct a line from the ' Great Fort ' on Headington Hill round St Clement ' s , lying outside Magdalen Bridge . On 6 May the magazine for provisions in Oxford was opened and from then on 4 , 700 were fed from it , " being more by 1 , 500 than upon a true muster the soldiers were " . On 11 May Fairfax sent in his summons with a trumpet : On 13 May the first shot was fired from the ' Great Fort ' on Headington Hill , the shot falling in Christ Church Meadow . The Governor ( Sir Thomas Glemham ) and the officers of the garrison of Oxford gave the opinion to the Lords of the Privy Council that Oxford was ' defensible ' . On 15 May the Governor of Oxford , under direction of the Privy Council sent a letter to Fairfax offering to treat on the Monday ( 18 May ) , asking for safe conduct for his commissioners , and for a place to be named . Fairfax , in council of war , sent a reply the same day , agreeing to the time and naming Mr Unton Croke ' s house at Marston as " convenient for the commissioners entrusted on both sides to treat " , offering safe conduct as asked and to send him names of the commissioners . The Privy Council ordered that all their books and papers of parliamentary proceedings transacted in Oxford were to be burned . On 16 May the Governor gave the Privy Council a sort of ultimatum ; he delivered a ' paper ' to the Lords to obtain from them a declaration that they " had power to raise and disband forces , fortify and give up garrisons , and conduct other warlike actions & c . during His Majesty ' s absence " . The declaration was needed to justify his associating himself further with the treaty ; on 17 May the Governor and all the principal officers of the garrison issued a manifesto " disliking the Treaty " and declaring it was forced upon them by the Lords of Council : This disclaimer of responsibility did little to delay the progress of the Treaty , the civilians , with a better sense of the situation , thought that delay " might be of ill consequence " . The same day the Governor sent his acceptance and names of his commissioners to Fairfax . The Treaty . Some discussion followed about the numbers of the commissioners of each side , amicably settled at thirteen , and Fairfax allowed the Oxford commissioners to bring a Mr Davidson as their secretary . The first session took place on 18 May , as originally agreed , in the afternoon . A letter from N . T . ( whose identity is unknown ) in Marston on 20 May complains about the ' lumbering at Oxford ' and the procrastination of the Oxford commissioners ; the letter concludes : A first draft of the Articles was referred by Fairfax to the House of Commons , presented by Colonel Rich on 22 May . The Journals of the House record that the House did " upon the very first view disdain those Articles and overtures " and left Fairfax to " proceed effectually according to the trust reposed in him for speedy gaining and reducing the garrison of Oxford to the obedience of Parliament " . On 23 May the commissioners returned to Marston and according to William Dugdale ' s diary " the adverse party pretended our Articles to be too high and said they would offer Articles " and the Treaty was broken off . On 25 May a Committee of nine Lords and nine of the Commons was constituted to consider honourable conditions for Oxford ' s surrender . A conference of both Houses met upon a letter from the King , written from Newcastle , dated 18 May , enclosing a letter for Glemham , the debate continued into the following day , the Lords were keen to send the letter to Fairfax , but the Commons refused . The King ' s letter regarding Oxford stated : The letter was not sent on to Fairfax and on 15 June the heads of conference with the Commons viewed the King ' s letter of 18 May and another from the King , dated 10 June , which was similar in terms , but added a " Warrant to the Governors of all his Garrisons " to surrender , referring to Oxford , Lichfield , Worcester , and Wallingford . The heads of conference wanted the warrant sent to Fairfax and for him to forward it on . In the Commons it was ordered that the warrant of 10 June be sent to all Governors " for preventing of the further effusion of Christian blood " . Dugdale ' s diary for 30 May records : " This evening Sir Thos . Fairfax sent a Trumpet to Oxford with Articles concerning the delivery of it " . Rushworth , who was Fairfax ' s secretary at the time stated that Fairfax drew up the Articles ; however , the Committee of the two Houses appointed on 25 May may have had a hand in them . The Treaty was renewed , the Oxford commissioners taking the stance that " they submitted to the Fate of the Kingdom , rather than anyway distrusting their strength or the tenableness of the Garrison " . The resumption of the Treaty coincided with a seemingly random exchange of cannon fire , Oxford loosing 200 shot in the day , managing to land a great shot in the Leaguer on Headington Hill , killing Colonel Cotsworth . A sutler was killed in Rainsborough ' s camp , while the Parliamentarian " cannon in recompense played fiercely upon the town and much annoyed them in their works and Colleges " , but made little material damage and a cessation of ' great shot ' was agreed upon on both sides . On 1 June Fairfax was prepared to take the city by storm if necessary , and one of the outworks , called " Charles Fort " , was surrendered to Colonel Weldon . On 3 June Oxford forces made a sally from East Port , and 100 horse troops attempted drive in some cattle grazing by Cowley , but the Parliamentarian horse troops countered them in skirmishes . On 4 June the commissioners met again in Marston to consider the new articles offered by Fairfax . On 8 June various Oxford gentlemen delivered a paper of particulars to the Privy Council , which they wanted to add into the Treaty , asking to be informed of the proceedings and to be allowed attendance with the commissioners . On 9 June the commissioners were sworn to secrecy over the talks and forbidden to say anything about their proceedings . By 10 June the Treaty seemed to be going well and Fairfax sent a present of a " Brace of Bucks , two muttons , two veals , two lambs , and six capons " into Oxford for the Duke of York ( James II ) . A letter from Fairfax to his father , dated 13 June , states : On 17 June there was a general cessation of arms and extensive fraternizing between the two armies . The Privy Council did not dare meet in the Audit House as was usual " in regard of the mutinous soldiers , especially reformadoes " . The following day the clergy with others reproached the Lords of the Privy Council for the terms of the Treaty ; the next day , the Lords of the Privy Council walked with swords on , fearing for their own safety . On 20 June the Articles of Surrender , finally agreed at Water Eaton , were signed in the Audit House of Christ Church on behalf of both sides - by the Privy Council and the Governor of Oxford on the one side , and Fairfax on the other . On 21 June the Lords of the Privy Council held a meeting with the gentlemen of the town in the Audit House , at which the Lord Keeper made a speech about the need to conclude the Treaty , and read them the authority of the two letters from the King . A copy of the " Moderate Intelligencer " was produced , along with an account of the Scots " pressing the King ' s conscience so far that his Majesty retired and wept " , which affected the lord Keeper similarly . On 22 June Princes Rupert and Maurice , along with 300 gentlemen , were allowed to leave Oxford , the Princes setting out or Guildford , but contrary to the terms of the Articles , went as near to London as Oatlands . The matter was debated in the House of Commons on 26 June , the Princes were commanded " forthwith to repair to the Sea coast , and depart the Kingdom within 10 days " . Prince Rupert sent a long letter arguing that he did not violate the terms of the Treaty , but offered to submit if his argument failed . On 24 June , the day set for the Treaty to come into operation , the evacuation of Oxford by the Royalists began . It was not possible to withdraw the entire garrison in one day , but under Article 5 a large body of the regular garrison , some 2 , 000 to 3 , 000 men , marched out of the city with all the honours of war . Those living in North Oxford went by the North Port , and some 900 marched out over Magdalen Bridge , on to Headington Hill between the lines of the Parliamentarian troops , and on to Thame where they were disarmed and dispersed with their passes . The form of pass issued by Fairfax was : Although 2 , 000 passes were issued over a few days , a number of people had to wait their turn . On 25 June the keys of the City were formally handed over to Fairfax ; with the larger part of the regular Oxford garrison having left the day before , he sent in three regiments of foot soldiers to maintain order . The evacuation subsequently continued in an orderly fashion , and all was quiet in Oxford .