William Vaughan (royalist) their property. When the king in May 1645 marched from Oxford towards Chester, he was met on the 17th at Newport, Shropshire (or Evesham), by Vaughan. He was defeated by Oliver Cromwell on 27 April at Bampton in Oxfordshire. During the next four weeks he accompanied the king), and at the battle of Naseby he took part in the charge that pierced through the enemy's force. After that defeat he fell back on Shropshire, where on 4 and 5 July he won two victories, resulting in the relief of High Ercall. Vaughan was shortly after directed by Prince Maurice to
Devizes Ralph Hopton in Devizes. However the siege was lifted by a relief force from Oxford under Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester and Waller's forces were almost totally destroyed at the Battle of Roundway Down. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender. The castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, a process known as slighting, and today little remains of it. From the 16th century Devizes became known for its textiles, initially white woollen broadcloth but later the manufacture of serge, drugget, felt and cassimere or Zephyr