Sandal Castle

Relatives and I this week visited Sandal Castle near Wakefield in West Yorkshire. A rather impressive collection of earthworks and ruined walls, it once played a pivotal part in our national history. The nursery rhyme The Grand Old Duke of York may refer to Richard, Duke of York, who was defeated in its vicinity at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460.

Though it is mainly associated with the Roses War, two hundred years later it was a royalist fortress held for King Charles in the civil wars. Unsuccessfully besieged twice by the Roundheads, it finally capitulated in 1645, leaving only Bolton Castle and Skipton as Yorkshire's strongholds of the king. Sandal was the stronger of the three, and when it fell, the remaining two knew the game was up. In 1646, Parliament ordered that it be ‘slighted’, so it could no longer offer resistance to its rule and offer hope to Cavaliers.

I was asked a question by some of our young people over supper after church on Sunday, one which the lads at school would often ask. How can a devotee of Oliver Cromwell also be a loyal subject and admirer of the British monarchy? There are several answers I might give, of course, but it does mean that writing a blog like this poses a challenge. Discussing historical events is one thing; drawing a Christian conclusion or application, quite another. Do I, as a natural supporter of the Long Parliament and the development of the Commonwealth, see Sandal’s fall as a long-awaited triumph, a picture of Christ’s systematically conquering evil throughout the world? Or do I consider those beleaguered garrisons of Skipton and Bolton as emblematic of the twenty-first-century British Christians’ plight, boldly holding the fort for our one true King, ‘gainst the forces of irreligion and falsehood which have gained the ascendancy all around us?

Take your pick.