Author: Brian Davies
Lieutenant Colonel, John Lilburne’s Regiment

Orders of the day, Volume 34, Issue 2, 2002

Henry VII gave permission to Thomas Stanley, the first Earl of Derby, to build a castle near Garstang as a reward for his military services on the field of Bosworth. This was granted in 1490, when construction was started on a small hill, half a mile south east of the town. The castle is thought to have had four towers connected by a curtain wall. It possibly had a portcullis and drawbridge, and may have been surrounded by a circular moat. It was strongly built, and having only one entrance was difficult to approach. Sadly very little remains of the Castle these days. The ruins stand on private property, protected by English Heritage. It is thanks to Garstang Chamber of Trade and by kind permission of the landowner that the Sealed Knot has been invited to perform the siege and fictitious relief of Greenhalgh Castle.

During the Civil War the town of Garstang supported the cause of Parliament, whilst James, the Earl of Stanley, garrisoned the Castle for the King under the command of Captain Christopher Anderson. The town raised four Companies of Foot under John Fyffe of Wedincar Hall, Christopher White of Claughton and Richard Whitehead of Garstang. In 1644, following the battle of Marston Moor, Parliament sent forces under Sir John Meldrum into Lancashire to pursue the fleeing Royalists. In August orders were given to Colonel George Dodding and Major Joseph Rigby to beleaguer the castle. Very little is known of the siege, but the garrison were able to sally out to plunder the countryside, even capturing five barrels of powder from the besiegers. The sandy soil made undermining the castle walls very difficult, and what ordinance Dodding had was reported as having little or no effect on the strong walls. The lengthy siege continued until May 1645.

The final surrender came with the death of the governor, when the garrison became disheartened and sued for terms, so they could return safely to their homes. Orders were given that the Castle was to be ‘slighted’ - made untenable - and all its timbers were removed and sold. Later local builders used materials from the castle in the construction of new dwellings around the town.

A colourful story from the period is of a Puritan man by the name of Peter “Hallelujah” Broughton, known as such for his habit of crying “Hallelujah” when going into battle. On the eve of the first attack on the castle he took a walk up the Lancaster road, stopping at Gubberford Bridge over the River Wyre. He saw a woman wearing a white garment approaching the bridge. To his surprise he recognised her as she came near - it was his wife!

Some five years previously she had deserted him, going off with another man. Her personality and charms gave her the ability to attract other men, which was to be her eventual downfall. She exerted her wiles to make Peter take interest in her again, putting her arms around his neck, upon which a man sprang from a nearby thicket and stabbed her, mortally wounding her. The assassin was Captain Rupert Rowton, a Royalist. It appeared that the ill-fated Mrs Broughton, having left her husband, had taken a maid’s job at the Royal Inn at Lancaster and fallen in love with Captain Rowton, who she bigamously married. The Captain then to his distress found out that she was showing favour to a fellow Royalist, Captain Lord Alban.

Both Broughton and Rowton agreed to keep their counsel and together buried the body on the banks of the River Wyre. On his deathbed Peter “Hallelujah” Broughton told the story to his employer. Since then regular sightings have been reported of a ghostly Lady in White at the Calder Dale Bridge.

Thanks to Mike Seed of Sir Gilbert Hoghton’s Companie for his assistance with this article.