Editing Lancaster Castle (section)

===Civil War===
At the outbreak of the Civil War Lancaster was lightly garrisoned. A small [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] force captured the castle in February 1643, established a garrison and set about building earthworks around the approaches to the town. In response, the [[Cavalier|Royalists]] dispatched an army to retake Lancaster. The outer defences fell in March; a siege of the castle lasted just two days as Parliamentarian reinforcements were heading to Lancaster from [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]. The Royalists unsuccessfully tried to recapture Lancaster in April and again in June; the town and castle remained under Parliament's control until the end of the war. Orders were given that "all the walls about [Lancaster Castle] should be thrown down".<ref name="Champness 11"/> The instruction was not followed, and in August 1648 the town withstood a siege from the Royalist [[James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton|Duke of Hamilton]] who led an army south from Scotland. [[Charles I of England|King Charles]] was executed in January 1649 and shortly after Parliament again ordered the [[slighting]] of the castle, apart from buildings necessary for administration and use as a county gaol. The monarchy was [[Restoration (England)|restored in 1660]], and [[Charles II of England|Charles&nbsp;II]] visited Lancaster on 12 August and released all the prisoners held in the castle. Lancashire's High Sheriff and Justices of the Peace petitioned the king to repair the castle. The buildings were surveyed and repair work estimated at £1,957.<ref>{{harvnb|Champness|1993|pp=11–13}}</ref> After the slighting of the castle, including the demolition of the Well Tower, it was militarily redundant.<ref name="Champness 14"/>