Battlefields›Battle of Lansdown
English Civil War

Battle of Lansdown

1643
Avon, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Avon, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Parliamentarians (Sir William Waller)
VS
Victor
Royalists
Forces involved

Royalists: 2,000 horse, 4,000 foot, 300 dragoons, 16 guns. Parliamentarians: 2,500 horse, 1,500 foot, unknown number of guns

Outcome
Royalists forced the Parliamentarians to retreat from their hilltop position but suffered such heavy casualties and disorder, compounded by an ammunition cart explosion, that Hopton's army could not pursue and withdrew to Devizes; a costly, near-pyrrhic Royalist tactical victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Lansdown was a Civil War pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought at Avon, England in 1643. Royalists prevailed over Parliamentarians (Sir William Waller). Royalists forced the Parliamentarians to retreat from their hilltop position but suffered such heavy casualties and disorder, compounded by an ammunition cart explosion, that Hopton's army could not pursue and withdrew to Devizes; a costly, near-pyrrhic Royalist tactical victory.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Lansdown lies on Great Oolite Group, bedrock that formed in the Bathonian. The rock here is sandstone, limestone and argillaceous rocks.

Casualties & Losses
  • Royalists: 200-300 killed, 600-700 wounded. Parliamentarians: 20 killed, 60 wounded
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Lansdown

This page covers Battle of Lansdown. 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.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Lansdown

Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument
Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument
Scheduled monument · ~0 mi

Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument is a commemorative structure located in Somerset, erected to memorialise Sir Bevil Grenville, a prominent Royalist commander during the English Civil War. The monument dates from the seventeenth century or later, reflecting the historical importance of Grenville, wh…

Mertbiol / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons
Romano-British settlement E of Sir Bevil Granville's Monument
Romano-British settlement E of Sir Bevil Granville's Monument
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

I do not have established scholarly information in my training data about the specific Romano-British settlement located east of Sir Bevil Granville's Monument in Somerset. Rather than invent details, I should note that Romano-British settlements in Somerset are typically identified through archa…

Dave.Dunford / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Roman camp 405m west of The Bungalow
Roman camp 405m west of The Bungalow
Scheduled monument · ~1 mi

Roman camp 405m west of The Bungalow is a Roman military installation in Somerset, England. The site represents evidence of Roman military activity in the region during the period of occupation, typical of the temporary or semi-permanent camps established by Roman forces during campaigns and garr…

Rick Crowley / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Large univallate hillfort with a bowl barrow and pillow mounds 970m west of The Bungalow
Large univallate hillfort with a bowl barrow and pillow mounds 970m west of The Bungalow
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 mi

Large univallate hillfort with a bowl barrow and pillow mounds 970m west of The Bungalow is a prehistoric fortified settlement located in Somerset. The site comprises a single-vallate defensive circuit typical of Iron Age hillforts of the region, supplemented by later medieval agricultural featur…

Dave.Dunford / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Saltford Brass Battery Mill
Saltford Brass Battery Mill
Scheduled monument · ~3 mi

Saltford Brass Battery Mill is a post-medieval industrial site located near Saltford in Somerset. The mill dates from the eighteenth century and represents an important phase in the development of brass manufacturing in England, when the Saltford works formed part of a significant concentration o…

Rodw / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Slight univallate hillfort 190m north west of Westleigh
Slight univallate hillfort 190m north west of Westleigh
Scheduled monument · ~3.2 mi

Slight univallate hillfort 190m north west of Westleigh is a single-ditched Iron Age fortification located in Somerset, England. The monument comprises a modest earthwork defence consisting of a single bank and ditch arrangement, which characterises its univallate classification. Such hillforts w…

Beechenbummer at English Wikipedia / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Lansdown camp
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 miles
Part of a linear boundary 590m north of Noade's Leaze Farm
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Lansdown

Battle of Lansdowne
1643
~0 miles away
Battle of Lansdown (Hill) 1643
1643
~0.2 miles away
Battle of Badon
500
~4 miles away
Battle of Deorham
577
~4.2 miles away
Aubrey Research

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Sources
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