Battlefields›Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649
English Civil War

Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649

1649
Oxfordshire, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Oxfordshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Leveller mutineers (led by Captain William Thompson, Cornet James Thompson among others)
VS
Victor
Parliamentarians / New Model Army leadership (Cromwell and Fairfax)
Outcome
The mutinous troopers were surprised and captured at Burford; about 340 were imprisoned in the parish church, three ringleaders were executed by firing squad in the churchyard on 17 May 1649, and the mutiny (part of the wider 1649 Leveller mutinies originating at Banbury and Salisbury) was crushed, ending the Levellers' power base within the New Model Army.
The Battle

History & Significance

Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649 was a Civil War skirmish, fought at Oxfordshire, England in 1649. Parliamentarians / New Model Army leadership (Cromwell and Fairfax) prevailed over Leveller mutineers (led by Captain William Thompson, Cornet James Thompson among others). The mutinous troopers were surprised and captured at Burford; about 340 were imprisoned in the parish church, three ringleaders were executed by firing squad in the churchyard on 17 May 1649, and the mutiny (part of the wider 1649 Leveller mutinies originating at Banbury and Salisbury) was crushed, ending the Levellers' power base within the New Model Army.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649 lies on Great Oolite Group, bedrock that formed in the Bathonian. The rock here is sandstone, limestone and argillaceous rocks.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649

This page covers Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
First month just £4.99, then £9.99 a month. Unlimited locations, cancel anytime.

Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

Start your Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649 report
Or see a real report first
Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649

Asthall Barrow: an Anglo-Saxon burial mound 100m SSW of Barrow Farm
Asthall Barrow: an Anglo-Saxon burial mound 100m SSW of Barrow Farm
Scheduled monument · ~2.5 mi

Asthall Barrow is an Anglo-Saxon burial mound located approximately 100 metres south-south-west of Barrow Farm in Oxfordshire. The barrow represents a significant funerary monument of the early medieval period, when such earthen mounds served as prominent markers for elite burials within Anglo-Sa…

Vieve Forward / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Windrush camp
Windrush camp
Scheduled monument · ~4.4 mi

Windrush Camp is an Iron Age hillfort situated in Gloucestershire. The site occupies a commanding position and is defined by substantial defensive earthworks comprising banks and ditches that enclose an irregular hilltop enclosure. Dating to the Iron Age period, the monument represents a signific…

Vieve Forward / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Minster Lovell Hall
Minster Lovell Hall
Scheduled monument · ~4.6 mi

Minster Lovell Hall is a fifteenth-century manor house founded by William, 1st Viscount Lovell, situated in the parish of Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire. The hall stands as a significant example of late medieval domestic architecture, with substantial remains including the distinctive dovecote and…

John Salmon / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Dovecote 125m north of Minster Lovell Hall
Dovecote 125m north of Minster Lovell Hall
Scheduled monument · ~4.6 mi

Dovecote 125m north of Minster Lovell Hall is a Grade II listed building and scheduled ancient monument located in Oxfordshire. The structure dates to the medieval period and represents a surviving example of a domestic dovecote, a building type that provided an important source of protein throug…

Colin Smith / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Lad Barrow long barrow
Lad Barrow long barrow
Scheduled monument · ~5.3 mi

Lad Barrow is a Neolithic long barrow located in Gloucestershire, England. The monument dates to the Neolithic period and represents a form of communal burial structure characteristic of early agricultural societies in Britain. The barrow survives as an earthwork mound, though like many such monu…

Vieve Forward / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Ascott Earl motte and bailey castle
Ascott Earl motte and bailey castle
Scheduled monument · ~5.5 mi

Ascott Earl motte and bailey is a Norman fortification situated in Oxfordshire, England, dating to the medieval period following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The castle comprises a substantial earthwork consisting of a mound or motte with an associated bailey or enclosed courtyard, representing t…

Andy Stephenson / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Medieval settlement of Widford immediately east of Manor Farm
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 miles
Pain's Farm bowl barrow 30m south of Pain's Farm Cottages
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 miles
More from this era

Other English Civil War Battles

Battle of Kringen
1612
Scotland
Campbell Raid into MacDonald Islay Territory 1612
1612
Scotland
Mackenzie Seizure of Lewis 1610
1610
Scotland
Iona — Chiefs Signing Under Duress 1609
1609
Scotland
In the same landscape

Battles near Burford Mutiny (Leveller Mutiny), 1649

Bampton-in-the-Bush Skirmish, 1645
1645
~6.5 miles away
Battle of Radcot Bridge, 1387
1387
~7.5 miles away
Battle of Kempsford, 802
802
~10.5 miles away
Aethelwold's Raid into Mercia and Wessex 902
902
~14.3 miles away
Explore the history of Oxfordshire
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around Oxfordshire

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

Research a location near OxfordshireView a sample report
All Battlefields