Castles thereto belonging; the strong Town of Hull
in Yorkshire, and in it all his Majesties Magazine of Arms,
Artillery, and Amunition prepared for his Scottish Expe∣dition;
Manchester in Lancashire—in Cheshire; Lud∣low,
Bridg-North, and Wemme in Shropshire; Stafford in
Staffordshire; the Cities of Bristol, and Gloucester; the
Towns of Leicester and Northampton; the City of Coven∣try,
with the Castles of Warwick and Kenilworth all in
Warwickshire; the City of Lincoln; the Towns of Not∣ingham
and Derby; and indeed what not, excepting those
places I have mention'd, wherein the Royalists had first
set foot. Besides which, they took by force the City of
Winchester; Leedes in Yorkshire; the City of Chichester
in Sussex about the same time; and Sudeley-Castle in
Gloucestershire.
Not much of Action in the Field, or otherwise, can be
expected until the ensuing Spring of the year; so that
all I find of note, was only that at Liskard near Bodmin
in Cornwall, where Sir Ralph Hopton routed a strong Party
of the Rebels in those parts, and took above twelve hun∣dred
Prisoners.
Likewise that attempt upon Litchfield-close in Stafford-shire,
made by Robert Lord Brook, wherein he lost his
life; the manner whereof is not a little remarkable,
which (in short) was thus. This Lord being strangely
tainted with fanatic Principles, by the influence of one of
his near Relations and some Schismatical Preachers
(though in his own nature a very civil and well homour'd
man) became thereby so great a zealot against the esta∣blish'd
Discipline of the Church, that no less than the
utter extirpation of Episcopacy, and abolishing all decent
Order in the service of God would satisfy him. To
which end he became the leader of all the power he
could raise for the destruction of the Cathedral of that
Diocess of Coventry and Litchfield. In order whereun∣to,
when he had march'd within half a mile of Litchfield,
he drew up his Army; and there devoutly pray'd a
blessing upon his intended work: withall, earnestly desi∣ring,
that God would by some special Token manifest
unto them his approbation of that their design: which
being done, he went on, and planted his great Guns a∣gainst
the South-East Gate of the Close, himself stand∣ing