'A Diary and Pictorial Plan of the Siege of Colchester, by the Parliament Forces, under the Command of General Fairfax, 1648'

Engraving published by W Keymer, Colchester, 1661 (c).

On 13 June Parliamentarian forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax attempted to storm the town, but were repulsed with heavy losses. Colchester then endured a siege of ten weeks, which caused great hardship to both sides.

The defeat of a Scottish army at the Battle of Preston on 17 August put an end to Royalist hopes of further support. Despairing of relief, Colchester surrendered on 28 August. Two of the town's Royalist commanders, Sir George Lisle and Sir Charles Lucas, were shot, having broken earlier undertakings not to fight again. Their fate marked a hardening of Parliament's attitude towards those Royalists who continued to resist its authority.