Civil War

St Peter & St Paul severely damaged after the seige of Bolingbroke Castle.

During the English Civil War the Castle was held for the King, which had devastating results for the Church. In October 1643 Parliamentary forces under the Earl of Manchester left Boston after joining forces with Sir Thomas Fairfax of Yorkshire and Oliver Cromwell from the Eastern Association. By the 9th they had laid siege to the castle which then housed a Royalist force of 200 men. After receiving a refusal of surrender, the Parliamentary forces resolved to establish a mortar on the roof of the Church Tower. In response, the Tower was bombarded from the Castle and the roof set alight. The Parliamentary artillery was then set up further back on Dewy Hill from where further damage was inflicted on both the Church and Castle. Despite a defeat of the Royalist relieving force at the Battle of Winceby, the defenders continued to hold the castle until November the 14th at which time both the Castle and the Church were occupied by Parliamentary troops. The Church was in a terrible state with the Nave, North Aisle and portion of the East wall of the Tower destroyed. A single arcade of columns survived on the south side of the original Nave.

Cromwell’s horse troopers, returning from the Battle of Winceby, inflicted further damage to the interior of the Church with the result that all of the original stained glass was lost .