Farce at Cawood

With England descending into bitter Civil War between King Charles and his rebellious Parliament, the bustling Archbishop, John Williams, who had been installed in his episcopal chair in York in June, seemed at first eager to help the King. This loquastious Welshman soon however became rather dismayed by the ease with which the Parliamentarians seized his own castle of Cawood on the Ouse, midway between York and Selby. The unpopular Archbishop therefore decided to despatch a royalist party with orders to regain his possession. Departing at dusk the Royalist troop arrived near to the castle during the course of the night, only to observe what appeared to be a large and formidable looking force of defenders awaiting them. With this the Royalist troop turned in panic and fled back to York. Had they waited until dawn they might have realised that the 'Defending Army' was in fact a lone windmill standing in a field of bean-stooks.Following this farcical event the good Archbishop decided that he could best serve the king in his own country of North Wales, rather than in the archbishopric where he had too few friends and too little influence. He withdrew from York and fortified himself in Conway castle