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, visu ...

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s, gardens and designed landscapes, or as

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

s) whilst others are protected through landscape legislation (such as

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s, 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 was set up 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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and since the organisations split it has been managed 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 Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

as part of the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, 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 und ...

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 (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

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 a ...

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

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 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 began 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 acti ...

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 () took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under Harold Godwinson, King Harold Godwinson and an invading Norwegian force l ...

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, 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 The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

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 The Battle of Adwalton Moor occurred on 30 June 1643 at Adwalton, West Yorkshire, during the First English Civil War. In the battle, the Royalists loyal to Charles I of England, King Charles led by the William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcast ...

(1643) *

Battle of Barnet The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a War of succession, dynastic conflict of England in the Middle Ages, 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured t ...

(1471) *

Battle of Blore Heath The Battle of Blore Heath took place during the English Wars of the Roses on 23 September 1459, at Blore Heath, Staffordshire. Blore Heath is a sparsely populated area of farmland two miles east of the town of Market Drayton in Shropshire, and ...

(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 The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field ( ) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of House of Lancaster, Lancaster and House of York, York that extended across England in the latter half ...

(1485) *

Battle of Braddock Down The Battle of Braddock Down took place during 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 secur ...

(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 an ...

(1644) *

Battle of Cropredy Bridge The Battle of Cropredy Bridge was fought on Saturday 29 June 1644 (9 July 1644 Gregorian) near Banbury, Oxfordshire during the First English Civil War. In the engagement, Sir William Waller and the Parliamentarian army failed to capture ...

(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, Warwickshire, Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642. All attempts at constitution ...

(1642) *

Battle of Evesham The Battle of Evesham (4 August 1265) was one of the two main battles of 13th century England's Second Barons' War. It marked the defeat of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the rebellious barons by the future King Edward I, who led t ...

(1265) *

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

(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 seized ...

(1333) *

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

(1066) * Battle of Homildon Hill (1402) *

Battle of Hopton Heath 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 force c ...

(1643) * Battle of Langport (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 ...

(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 ...

(1264) *

Battle of Maldon The Battle of Maldon took place on 10 or 11 August 991 AD near Maldon, Essex, Maldon beside the River Blackwater, Essex, River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the En ...

(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 unde ...

(1644) * Battle of Myton (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, Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Sir Thomas Fairfax in command of a Roundhead, Parliamentarian relief force def ...

(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 Roundhead, Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Sir Th ...

(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 lo ...

(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, also known as the Battle of Chevy Chase, 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 Eng ...

(1388) *

Battle of Roundway Down The Battle of Roundway Down was fought on 13 July 1643 at Roundway Down 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 ...

(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. The Parliamentarians, commanded by Sydnam Poyntz, inflicted a significant defeat on the Royalists under the per ...

(1645) *

Battle of Sedgemoor The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between forces loyal to James II 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 S ...

(1685) *

Battle of Shrewsbury The Battle of Shrewsbury was 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 fought ea ...

(1403) *

Battle of Solway Moss The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces. The Scottish King James V had refused to break from the Catholic Chu ...

(1542) *

(1066) *

Battle of Stoke Field The Battle of Stoke Field, which took place at East Stoke, Nottinghamshire, on 16 June 1487, may be considered the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, since it was the last major engagement between contenders for the throne whose claims deriv ...

(1487) * Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold (1646) * Battle of Stratton (1643) *

Battle of Tewkesbury The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on Saturday 4 May 1471, was one of the most 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 Hou ...

(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 The Battle of Winwick (also known as the Battle of Red Bank) was fought on 19 August 1648 near the Lancashire village of Winwick between part of a Royalist army under Lieutenant General William Baillie and a Parliamentarian army commande ...

(also known as 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 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

(1651) with Powick Old Bridge (1642)

Scottish historic battlefields

Battle of Alford The Battle of Alford was an engagement of the Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Scottish Civil War. It took place near the village of Alford, Aberdeenshire, on 2 July 1645. During the battle, the Cavalier, Royalist general James Gra ...

1645 * Battle of Harlaw 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 Crowns, ...

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. Jacobitism, Jacobite forces, led by the Stua ...

1745 *

Battle of Falkirk The Battle of Falkirk (; ), on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence. Led by Edward I of England, King Edward I of England, the English army defeated the Scottish people, Scots, led by William Wal ...

II 1746 *

Battle of Auldearn The Battle of Auldearn was an engagement of the Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It took place on 9 May 1645, in and around the village of Auldearn in Nairnshire. It resulted in a victory for the royalis ...

1645 *

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

1746 * Battle of Glenshiel 1719 *

Battle of Kilsyth The Battle of Kilsyth, fought on 15 August 1645 near Kilsyth, was an engagement of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The largest battle of the conflict in Scotland, it resulted in victory for the Royalist general Montrose over the forces of ...

1645 *

Battle of Dupplin Moor The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, the son of King Robert Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland, on 11 August 1332. It took place a l ...

1332 *

Battle of Killiecrankie The Battle of Killiecrankie, also known as the Battle of Rinrory, took place on 27 July 1689 during the Jacobite rising of 1689, 1689 Scottish Jacobite rising. An outnumbered Jacobitism, Jacobite force under Ewan Cameron of Lochiel, Sir Ewen Ca ...

1689 *

Battle of Ancrum Moor The Battle of Ancrum Moor was fought during the War of the Rough Wooing in 1545. The Scottish victory put a temporary end to English incursions in the Scottish border and lowlands. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Histor ...

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 The Battle of Bothwell Bridge, or Bothwell Brig' took place on 22 June 1679. It was fought between government troops and militant Presbyterian Covenanters, and signalled the end of their brief rebellion. The battle took place at the bridge ove ...

1679 *

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( or ) was fought on 23–24 June 1314, between the army of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, and the army of King Edward II of England, during the First War of Scottish Independence. It was a decisive victory for Ro ...

1314 *

Battle of Sheriffmuir The Battle of Sheriffmuir (, ) was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rising of 1715, Jacobite rising in Scotland. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Histor ...

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