The Parliamentary army were not deterred from the purpose on which they were sent, by the horrors that surrounded them (for they were dauntless men); but laid close siege to the Castle. They directed their attack against the Close, which was a place within the inner Castle adjoining the Great Tower, and containing within it the Governor’s house. They chose Pam-pudding Hill as the best platform on which to erect their battery, and from thence they bombarded the Castle for three weeks; but to no purpose. No breach was effected. The garrison, from the great eminence on which they stood, quite overlooked the besieging party; and their cannonade from the tower was so effective as to overpower that of the enemy. A singular incident is related as having taken place while this cannonade was going on. “The battery on Pam-pudding Hill played very furiously on the besieged: the cannoneer, answering them very smartly from the town, sent his ball in the clear, or bore, of one of the great guns, burst it, and killed the engineer and many others.” It is curious that an exactly similar circumstance is said to have occurred in an early stage of the siege of Sebastopol. A Russian artilleryman, making answer to one of ours, sent a ball directly into the mouth of the English gun, and a splinter from the gun struck our poor artilleryman dead. The leader of the Parliamentary army, seeing how fruitless the operations were which he had hitherto engaged in, devised another mode of assault. He determined to sap the Castle; and for this purpose employed a party, under Colonel Lavingstone, to make a large opening on the South side of the hill, intending to lay a Mine immediately under Saint Mary’s Church, where the garrison had stored their ammunition. They commenced their excavations, and the opening which they made is still visible. It may be seen in the face of the rock which stands to the right of the New Road, before you ascend the hill, and it still bears the name of “Lavingstone’s Hole.” The enemy had no occasion to proceed far with this mine; for the Governor, Colonel Howard, perceiving what inevitable destruction it would cause to the Castle and the garrison, if the mine were sprung, surrendered to the enemy, to prevent an unnecessary waste of human life. The terms of Capitulation have been preserved.[63] They were honourable to the brave men, who had with such valour, and with such true fidelity to the king, maintained this post so long in his name, and adhered to his cause so firmly amidst the disheartening events which were daily taking place. The Castle on its surrender came into the possession of the Parliamentary party, who, a few months after the seizure, entirely demolished it, and gradually removed all its ruins, except that one lonely fragment of it, which stands on the south east side of the Castle Hill. [63] Appendix K.