Winchester 1642
Dec 3 Lord Grandison occupied Marlborough with 4 troops of horse and 600 dragoons. From here he could disrupt traffic between London and Bristol.
Waller was ordered to take four regiments of horse and two of dragoons and re-take Marlborough. This amounted to about 2,500 men.

They passed through Windsor and Newbury, but on approaching Marlborough, news came that Grandison had ridden to Basingstoke to drive off some attackers of the Marquess of Winchester's castle and ransack some clothiers' shops.

 With Wallers' force rode:

John Urry
Arthur Goodwin
Sir Arthur Haselrige
John Middleton
Sir Richard Browne
Dec 9 Grandison left Basingstoke to return to Marlborough, but on hearing of Waller's march, he turned towards Andover and went to Winchester.
Dec 11 The governor of Winchester, Sir William Ogle, informed Grandison that six Parliamentarian regiments had arrived in Andover. Grandison promised that he would leave the town to spare it a  siege.
Dec 12 Grandison informs the governor that the enemy is nothing more than a few fragmented bands of soldiers, and that he had sent out Sir Richard Willis and Sir John Smith to chase them off.

The outnumbered Royalists were routed and fled.

 Waller met these Royalists 5 miles outside Winchester. The Parliamentarians 'came up most bravely and resolutely to them, and gave them the first charge with their horse, and so there began to be a vary hot skirmish'.
Dec 13 Waller attacks Winchester. Sir Richard Browne's dragoons attacked a weak section of the town walls, which had partially collapsed.[detail]

When the attackers had got through the walls, Grandison retired to Winchester Castle, which was immediately surrounded by Parliamentarian soldiers.

During the night they prepared to burn the gate of the castle down with bundles of sticks soaked in pitch.
Dec 14 Grandison agreed to surrender the castle in exchange for the lives of him and his soldiers.
42 officers and 600 soldiers were taken prisoner.

 
The Mayor had paid £1000 to save the city, but Waller agreed to let the soldiers plunder it anyway - a decision he always regretted.

There was much damage done to the Cathedral destroying the stained glass, decapitating statues and burning books and the communion rail. The mortuary chests were divested of their contents; the bones of the ancient Kings used as missiles.

Winchester Cathedral