In the 17th-century English Civil War Dorset had a number of royalist strongholds, such as Sherborne Castle and Corfe Castle, which were ruined in the war. The 1642 Battle of Babylon Hill was indecisive. Corfe had already been successfully defended against an attack in 1643 but an act of betrayal during a second siege in 1646 led to its capture and subsequent slighting. The residents of Lyme Regis were staunch Parliamentarians who, in 1644, repelled three attacks by a Royalist army under King Charle's nephew, Prince Maurice. Maurice lost 2,000 men in the assaults and his reputation was severely damaged as a result. The largest civil war battle in Dorset was not fought between Cavaliers and Roundheads however. The Dorset clubmen, a group of angry civilians who were annoyed by the disruption caused by the war, had no allegiance to either side. In 1645 some 5,000 of them gathered at Shaftesbury to do battle with Parliamentarian troops. Armed only with clubs and a variety of farming implements, they were easily dispersed. A smaller force of 2,000 or so regrouped on Hambledon Hill and were again routed. Many were taken prisoner and this was effectively the end for the organisation. The