Was it possible to get away without taking sides in this bloody civil war?

One person who tried to stay out of the conflict at a local level, and failed, was Sir John Brydges, the owner of Wilton Castle near Ross-on-Wye. He thought he could remain neutral by applying for military duty in Ireland. He did however return home in 1645 to gather recruits for his regiment, and it was during this stay that his uncle Barnabas Scudamore, the governor of Hereford, put him under pressure to join the Royalist cause. Sir John Brydges, however, was not easily swayed to give up his neutrality. He was a cautious man and according to Silas Taylor, whose sympathies lay with Parliament, a real gentleman:

"…a gentleman for his sweet deportment to all sorts of people, his compleat breeding in all gentile qualityes, his handsome personage, his great parentage, & aliance …"

A gentleman had to be articulate, look distinguished and carry himself well, come from a family of standing and be well-connected. Supposedly all this applied to Sir John, whose mother had been Mary Scudamore, the daughter of Viscount Scudamore.

	The inveterate Royalists Sir Henry Lingen and Sir Barnabas Scudamore would not accept this stance of neutrality and decided to punish Sir John Brydges. One Sunday morning Royalist soldiers waited till the family was at church in Bridstow before setting fire to their house, which was situated within the medieval castle walls.
Wilton Castle

Everything was destroyed.

Silas Taylor describes the events surrounding this fire from a Parliamentarian perspective:

"At his return out of Ireland his designe was recruits for his comand there and staying awhile at this house he found himself in great odium with those that by the late undeserving king were as undeservedly trusted wth the command of ye country, viz. Henry Lingen of Sutton Esq : and one Barnaby Scudamore, a man of noe fortune, intrusted with ye government of ye city of Hereford, who betwixt them ordered the burning of this house, formerly ye Castle of Wilton, wch savoured more of spleen and malice than of souldierlike designe, in regard ye place was very unlikely to have made a garrison (it being seated not in a castle-like but house-like building) unless they wd have been at ye cost and paines to pull downe the house and built it a castle; but however burned it they would and did …"

From a Royalist point of view the burning of Wilton Castle was a grave tactical error. Sir John Brydges immediately joined forces with the Parliamentarians based in Gloucester and vowed to help take Hereford. In collaboration with John Birch and Thomas Morgan, he successfully carried out his vengeance, but died in 1651, not yet 30 years old, of small-pox.

[For more information on the castle itself, click here]
	© Derek Foxton

Tasks:

1. Pairwork: Find Wilton Castle on a map and think about the strategic importance of its location. Pretend you are Barnabas Scudamore. Try to convince your partner, Sir John Brydges to support you by letting a Royalist garrison man his castle.

2. Pretend you are Sir Henry Lingen. Write a letter explaining why you felt you had to burn down Wilton Castle.

3. Read Taylor's description of the events surrounding Wilton Castle. What reason does he give why Wilton would not have been suitable for a garrison? Why does he think the Royalists fired the castle?

TFM