King on 27 July 1648. This led to a second siege which brought the castle back under Parliamentary control on 19 December, with the garrison defeated as much by the oncoming winter as by the Parliamentary forces. Following this, the castle was to have been demolished by an order of July 1649, to prevent it being used as a Royalist stronghold, but a local outcry saved it, along with new fears that resurgent Royalist forces were plotting to retake Scarborough, and the actual appearance of Dutch vessels in the harbour. Instead, it was used as a prison for those deemed enemies of the Commonwealth of England, the country's brief period of republicanism; the shell of the keep survives, minus the west wall. The castle was returned to the crown following the restoration of the monarchy. References Sources Bibliography Attribution External links Scarborough Castle - Information for Teachers - Information, diagrams and exercises from English Heritage. .pdf file. 'The borough of Scarborough', A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 (1923), pp. 538–560. Detailed academic account of the features and history of Scarborough Castle. History of Scarborough, North Yorkshire Military history of North Yorkshire Conflicts in 1645 1645 in England Sieges of the English Civil Wars 17th century in Yorkshire