Colchester in Essex was a hotbed of Puritanism in the seventeenth century. Unsurprisingly, the Essex town came out strongly for Parliament when civil war broke out in 1642.
However, just six years later, the townsfolk would find themselves besieged – and systematically starved – by parliamentarian forces commanded by Thomas, Lord Fairfax. The siege, which lasted for 11 weeks from 13 June to 27 August 1648, became one of the nastiest episodes of the civil wars in England.
Local-born historian, David J. Appleby, whose ancestors lived in the nearby village of Boxted at the time of the siege, describes how fate brought death and destruction to this once-prosperous community.
