Action at Empingham Fords

Who Fought

History & Significance

The Battle of Losecoat Field (also known as the Battle of Empingham) was fought on 12 March 1470, during the Wars of the Roses. Spellings of "Losecoat" vary, with "Losecote" and "Loose-coat" also seen.

The battle secured the defeat of the poorly organised Welles Uprising against King Edward IV, but ultimately led to the defection of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and the king's brother George, Duke of Clarence to the Lancastrian cause after they were forced to flee the country having been implicated in the rebellion.

Almost a year earlier, in July 1469, an army loyal to the Yorkist king, King Edward IV was defeated at the Battle of Edgcote by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, his disaffected former supporter; Edward himself was subsequently captured in Olney, Buckinghamshire. However, with the help and support of his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, he had by now regained power. Despite the nominal reconciliation of Warwick and the king, by March 1470 Warwick found himself in a similar position to that which he had been in before the battle of Edgcote. He was unable to exercise any control over, or influence, Edward's policies. Warwick wanted to place another of the king's brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, on the throne so that he could regain his influence. To do so, he called on former supporters of the defeated House of Lancaster.

The rebellion was initiated in 1470 by Sir Robert Welles, son of Richard Welles, 7th Baron Welles, a former Lancastrian, when his family fell foul of Edward. Sir Robert turned to Warwick for help. Warwick judged the time was ripe for another coup d'état, to kill Edward or remove him from the throne.

Welles started gathering troops at his base in Lincolnshire, ready for a show of arms against the king. The unrest in Lincolnshire prompted the king to act, and he started gathering men for his army on 4 March. The news of the king's intention to march to Lincolnshire quickly spread panic among people there. Due to Welles' deliberate misinterpretation, rumours were quickly spread that the king was coming to try the previously pardoned rebels from Edgcote, and that he would "hang and draw a great number" of them.

With the encouragement of Warwick and Clarence, Welles set himself up as a "great captain" of the people of Lincolnshire. On 4 March summons were sent to all the surrounding estates requesting every able man to join him in resisting the king. On the 7th the king heard that the rebels were marching towards Stamford with an army of 100,000 men, having recruited many men from nearby counties, especially from Yorkshire.

The ground they fought on

The site of Action at Empingham Fords lies on Inferior Oolite Group, bedrock that formed in the Bathonian. The rock here is limestone, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Action at Empingham Fords

Ermine Street, section S of Quarry Farm

Scheduled monument · ~1.5 mi

Ermine Street, section S of Quarry Farm is a Roman road running through Lincolnshire. This stretch of the famous road that connected London to York represents part of one of the most significant communication routes in Roman Britain, typically dated to the 1st century AD or shortly thereafter. Th…

Church Bridge

Scheduled monument · ~2.1 mi

Church Bridge is a medieval bridge located in Rutland, England. The structure dates from the medieval period and forms part of the local infrastructure serving the parish. As a listed ancient monument, it represents an important example of vernacular bridge construction from its era. The bridge's…

Alan Murray-Rust / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Austin Friars Priory

Scheduled monument · ~2.6 mi

Austin Friars Priory is a medieval religious house located in Lincolnshire, England. The priory was founded in the 13th century as a house of the Augustinian friars, an order of mendicant religious practitioners who played an important role in urban and rural ecclesiastical life during the later…

Michael Dibb / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Site of St Peter's Church

Scheduled monument · ~2.7 mi

Site of St Peter's Church is a scheduled monument in Lincolnshire representing the remains of a medieval parish church. The site is documented as a significant ecclesiastical monument within the local landscape, though much of the structure has been lost or substantially degraded over time. The c…

Des Blenkinsopp / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Stamford Castle (remains of)

Scheduled monument · ~2.7 mi

Stamford Castle is a Norman castle established in the late eleventh century at Stamford in Lincolnshire. The castle occupies a strategic position overlooking the River Welland and was constructed following the Norman Conquest as part of the consolidation of Norman power in the East Midlands. Toda…

Richard Croft / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Norman arch at No 11 St Mary's Hill

Scheduled monument · ~2.9 mi

The Norman arch at No 11 St Mary's Hill is a twelfth-century architectural fragment preserved within a later building in Lincolnshire. The arch represents surviving masonry from the Norman period and demonstrates the high-quality stone construction typical of ecclesiastical or domestic buildings…

Richard Croft / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Other Medieval Battles

Battles near Action at Empingham Fords

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• Battle of Losecoat Field · Wikipedia
• The Battle of Empingham (aka Losecoat Field) · Richard III Society
• Battle of Losecote Field, 12 March 1470 · HistoryOfWar.org