Registered Battlefields in the UK are battlefields recognised as having specific historic or cultural significance. They are recognised as such by conservationist organisations for a variety of reasons, including protecting them from development that may threaten historic buildings, items, or topography. The history relating to them is often hard to unravel, as there is often little to see above ground and the historical record is often biased in favour of the victors. The UK has many historic battlefield sites, some of which have legal protection through heritage protection legislation (as

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s, gardens and designed landscapes, or as conservation areas) whilst others are protected through landscape legislation (such as National Parks, National Scenic Areas and areas designated for local landscape value). More recently, some archaeologists prefer the term "site of conflict" to "battlefield", because of the difficulty in defining the geographical extent of a site.T Sutherland and M Holst "Battlefield Archaeology – a guide to the archaeology of Conflict" BAJR 2005 In England, the Register of Historic Battlefields lists the sites of 43 of the most important military battles on English soil. It is maintained by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

is responsible for the Inventory of Historic Battlefields. There are currently 17 battlefields on the Inventory. In Wales, the Welsh Ministers proposed in March 2011 that Cadw also compiles a non-statutory register of historic battlefields. The consultation period ends on 10 June 2011. There is currently no battlefield register or statutory protection for such sites in Northern Ireland.

Legislation

The legislation to protect historic battlefields is relatively recent, and arose following several key incidents involving important sites e.g. the discovery in 1997 of an unprotected mass grave of soldiers who fought at the 1461

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between ...

and a large metal detector rally held on the battlefield of Marston Moor in 2003. Battlefield sites in England are material considerations in the planning process and are designated by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

and put onto the Register of Historic Battlefields under powers conferred under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act, 1983 (as amended). This legislation did not confer a specific responsibility to create a register of battlefields, (only a register for historic parks and gardens), but a joint project between English Heritage, the National Army Museum and the Battlefields Trust in 1995 created a register. In 2011 this registered was incorporated into the National Heritage List for England, administered by Historic England. In Scotland, the Inventory of historic battlefields was introduced in 2009 and is compiled by Historic Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. This is done under the Historic Environment (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2011, following on from the Scottish Historic Environment Policy (July 2009) with further guidance issued in March 2011. In England, submissions are considered by English Heritage’s Battlefields Panel which is a non-executive specialist panel that advises the organisation on policy and practice. Members include archaeologist Dr Glenn Foard and Major General Julian Thompson CB OBE. Even though there is no legal requirement for English Heritage to be consulted over planning applications which affect registered battlefields although they must be considered by the local planning authority. Registration of battlefields means that any proposed development on the sites and their settings a material consideration under planning legislation. Planning Policy Statement 5 ''Planning for the Historic Environment'' states that there should be a presumption in favour of the conservation of designated historic assets, and that local authorities should assess whether an application for development outweighs the "disbenefits". It also recognises that there are many historic assets that are not currently designated, and that despite that, they should still be a presumption in favour of conservation such that substantial harm to, or loss of, the battlefield should be "wholly exceptional". Some sites also receive protection under separate legislation, for example, the parts of the Battle of Maldon is part of the Coastal Protection Belt, a Special Landscape Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Battle of Evesham site is subject to local plan policies which constrain development beyond its current extent. Legislation regarding

metal detecting A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

and the

Portable Antiquities Scheme The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme begun in 1997 and now covers ...

also applies to historic battlefield sites across the UK. However, because there is often little to see above ground, sites are regularly threatened by new road and residential development. The 2010

Heritage at Risk An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for actio ...

survey identifies several sites that are "at risk" including the site of the Battle of Newburn Ford which has been subject to piecemeal, peripheral development and much of the site of the

Battle of Stamford Bridge The Battle of Stamford Bridge ( ang, Gefeoht æt Stanfordbrycge) took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading No ...

lies under modern development War cemeteries are designated separately.

Criteria for designation

Although there are many historic battlefields in England only a few are considered to be important enough to be included in the register. The current criteria for designation are: * Historic significance – the battle must have had a significant impact on English history. * It must have involved recognised military units and the area on which the forces formed up and fought must be capable of definition on the ground. * Surviving topographical and built features which played a part in the battle are important as is the potential for

battlefield archaeology Battlefield archaeology is a sub-discipline of archaeology which studies the material remains and topography of a battlefield to understand a conflict. Archaeological battlefields consist of skirmishes, sieges, camps, and training sites. The study ...

, i.e. the survival of features and items from the battle such as graves and weapons. * Documents and memorials that help with the understanding of the battle through eye-witness accounts or subsequent investigation will also raise the site’s significance. In Scotland, the criteria are similar but with the additional requirement that it must be possible to define the site on a modern map with a reasonable degree of accuracy. English Heritage is currently (May 2011) reviewing the criteria in the light of recent battlefield studies and developments in battlefield archaeology. Unlike listed buildings, Registered battlefields in England are not graded according to their relative significance. This is also something that is under consideration.

Identification of battlefields

* Application online using a form on the Historic England web site or by contacting Historic Scotland * An initial assessment is carried out by English Heritage/ or Historic Scotland to find out if meets the designation criteria. * If it does, the owner and local planning authority is told about the application. * Further research is carried out on the history and description of the site and put into an initial report using in consultation with the owner, local planning authority, the Battlefields Trust and applicant. * All the information and representations are considered, and English Heritage or Historic Scotland makes a decision.

List of historic battlefields

The UK Battlefields Trust claims that there are more than 500 historic battlefields and other fields of conflict in England up to the Jacobite risings of the 18th century. It is gradually compiling a UK "Fields of Conflict" database in collaboration with Historic Scotland,

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

and English Heritage. An independent Scottish Battlefields Trust was established in 2015 to protect, promote and interpret the battlefield heritage of Scotland. The English Heritage Register of Historic Battlefields identifies 43 English battlefields, whilst

has 17 sites on its Inventory. The purpose of both the register and inventory is to offer them protection and to promote a better understanding of their significance. The location, brief historic details and designation for each registered battlefield in England can be searched using The National Heritage List for England. There are also details of sources, history and archaeological excavations for each site where available on the English Heritage website. Scottish historic battlefields can be searched online using PASTMAP .

English historic battlefields

* Battle of Adwalton Moor (1643) *

Battle of Barnet The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV. On Sunday 14 April ...

(1471) * Battle of Blore Heath (1459) *

Battle of Boroughbridge The Battle of Boroughbridge was fought on 16 March 1322 in England between a group of rebellious barons and the forces of King Edward II, near Boroughbridge, north-west of York. The culmination of a long period of antagonism between the King a ...

(1322) * Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) *

Battle of Braddock Down The Battle of Braddock Down was a battle of the south-western campaign of the First English Civil War. It was fought on open ground in Cornwall, on 19 January 1643. An apparently easy victory for the Royalists under Sir Ralph Hopton secured ...

(1643) * Battle of Chalgrove (1643) *

Battle of Cheriton The Battle of Cheriton of 29 March 1644 was an important Parliamentarian victory during the First English Civil War. Sir William Waller's "Army of the Southern Association" defeated a Royalist force jointly commanded by the Earl of Forth and ...

(1644) *

Battle of Cropredy Bridge The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was fought on 29 June 1644 near Banbury, Oxfordshire during the First English Civil War. In the engagement, Sir William Waller and the Parliamentarian army failed to capture King Charles. The site was placed ...

(1644) *

Battle of Edgehill The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitutional compromise between ...

(1642) * Battle of Evesham (1265) *

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

(1513) *

Battle of Halidon Hill The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England () and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seize ...

(1333) *

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conque ...

(1066) *

Battle of Homildon Hill The Battle of Holmedon Hill or Battle of Homildon Hill was a conflict between English and Scottish armies on 14 September 1402 in Northumberland, England. The battle was recounted in Shakespeare's '' Henry IV, part 1''. Although Humbleton Hi ...

(1402) *

Battle of Hopton Heath The battle of Hopton Heath was a battle of the First English Civil War, fought on Sunday 19 March 1643 between Parliamentarian forces led by Sir John Gell and Sir William Brereton and a Royalist force under Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of N ...

(1643) *

Battle of Langport The Battle of Langport was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War which destroyed the last Royalist field army and gave Parliament control of the West of England, which had hitherto been a major source of manpower, ra ...

(1645) *

Battle of Lansdowne The First English Civil War battle of Lansdowne, or Lansdown, was fought on 5 July 1643, at Lansdowne Hill, near Bath, Somerset, England. Although the Royalists under Lord Hopton forced the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller to re ...

(1643) *

Battle of Lewes The Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264. It marked the high point of the career of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and made h ...

(1264) *

Battle of Maldon The Battle of Maldon took place on 11 August 991 AD near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battl ...

(991) *

Battle of Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 – 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters und ...

(1644) *

Battle of Myton The Battle of Myton, nicknamed the Chapter of Myton or The White Battle because of the number of clergy involved, was a major engagement in the First Scottish War of Independence, fought in Yorkshire on 20 September 1319. Berwick Falls In Apr ...

(1319) *

Battle of Nantwich The Battle of Nantwich was fought on 25 January 1644 in Cheshire during the First English Civil War. In the battle, Sir Thomas Fairfax in command of a Parliamentarian relief force defeated Lord Byron and the Royalists. The Parliamentari ...

(1644) *

Battle of Naseby The Battle of Naseby took place on 14 June 1645 during the First English Civil War, near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire. The Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, destroyed the main ...

(1645) *

Battle of Neville's Cross The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham, England. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King David II was defeated with heavy los ...

(1346) * Battle of Newburn Ford (1640) * Battle of Newbury(1643) * Battle of Northallerton (1138) * Battle of Northampton (1460) *

Battle of Otterburn The Battle of Otterburn took place according to Scottish sources on 5 August 1388, or 19 August according to English sources, as part of the continuing border skirmishes between the Scots and English. The best remaining record of the bat ...

(1388) *

Battle of Roundway Down The Battle of Roundway Down was fought on 13 July 1643 near Devizes, in Wiltshire during the First English Civil War. Despite being outnumbered and exhausted after riding overnight from Oxford, a Royalist cavalry force under Lord Wilmot won a c ...

(1643) *

Battle of Rowton Heath The Battle of Rowton Heath, also known as the Battle of Rowton Moor, occurred on 24 September 1645 during the English Civil War. Fought by the Parliamentarians, commanded by Sydnam Poyntz, and the Royalists under the personal command of King ...

(1645) *

Battle of Sedgemoor The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between the Kingdom of England and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerse ...

(1685) *

Battle of Shrewsbury The Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers ...

(1403) * Battle of Solway Moss (1542) *

(1066) * Battle of Stoke Field (1487) *

Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold The Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold (21 March 1646) took place during the First English Civil War. It was a Parliamentarian victory by detachments of the New Model Army over the last Royalist field army. In the spring of 1646, King Charles I of E ...

(1646) * Battle of Stratton (1643) *

Battle of Tewkesbury The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England. King Edward IV and his forces loyal to the House of York completely defeated those of the rival House of Lancaster. ...

(1471) *

(1461) *

Battle of Winceby The Battle of Winceby took place on 11 October 1643 during the First English Civil War near the village of Winceby, Lincolnshire. In the battle, a Royalist relieving force under the command of Sir William Widdrington was defeated by the ...

(1643) * Battle of Winwick (also known as the Battle of Red Bank) (1648) *

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

(1651) with Powick Bridge

Scottish historic battlefields

Battle of Alford The Battle of Alford was an engagement of the Scottish Civil War. It took place near the village of Alford, Aberdeenshire, on 2 July 1645. During the battle, the Royalist general James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose defeated the forces of ...

1645 *

Battle of Harlaw The Battle of Harlaw ( gd, Cath Gairbheach) was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland a ...

1411 * Battle of Dunbar II 1650 *

Battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crow ...

1547 *

Battle of Prestonpans The Battle of Prestonpans, also known as the Battle of Gladsmuir, was fought on 21 September 1745, near Prestonpans, in East Lothian, the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Jacobite forces, led by the Stuart exile C ...

1745 * Battle of Falkirk II 1746 * Battle of Auldearn 1645 * Battle of Culloden 1746 * Battle of Glenshiel 1719 * Battle of Kilsyth 1645 * Battle of Dupplin Moor 1332 *

Battle of Killiecrankie The Battle of Killiecrankie ( gd, Blàr Choille Chnagaidh), also referred to as the Battle of Rinrory, took place on 27 July 1689 during the 1689 Scottish Jacobite rising. An outnumbered Jacobite force under John Graham, Viscount Dundee and ...

1689 * Battle of Ancrum Moor 1545 *

Battle of Philiphaugh The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on 13 September 1645 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The Royalist army of the Marquis of Montrose was destroyed by the Covenanter army of Sir David Leslie, ...

1645 *

Battle of Bothwell Bridge A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...

1679 * Battle of Bannockburn 1314 * Battle of Sheriffmuir 1715

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

National Heritage List for England: English Heritage

The Battlefields Trust

Pastmap: Historic Scotland

Caring for Historic Battlefields:English Heritage

Historic Scotland:Battlefields
Battlefields in the United Kingdom Lists of monuments and memorials in the United Kingdom

Legislation

Criteria for designation

Identification of battlefields

List of historic battlefields

English historic battlefields

Scottish historic battlefields

See also

References

External links