Battlefields›Battle of Willoughby Field
English Civil War

Battle of Willoughby Field

1648
Lincolnshire, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Lincolnshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Royalists under Sir Philip Monckton
VS
Victor
Parliamentarians under Colonel Edward Rossiter
Forces involved

Royalist: approximately 800-1,000 cavalry under Sir Philip Monckton, including men such as Gilbert Byron and Michael Stanhope. Parliamentarian: a combined force from Lincoln, Nottingham, Leicester, Derby and Rutland militias under Colonel Edward Rossiter, of comparable or larger size (contemporary accounts vary and do not give a precise combined total).

Outcome
Parliamentary victory; a Royalist cavalry force of about 800-1,000 men riding south from the fall of Pontefract and the sack of Lincoln, intending to relieve the siege of Colchester, was intercepted and routed by Rossiter's combined Midlands Parliamentarian force near Willoughby; Sir Philip Monckton was captured along with several hundred of his men.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Willoughby Field was a Civil War skirmish, fought in the area of Lincolnshire, England in 1648. Parliamentarians under Colonel Edward Rossiter prevailed over Royalists under Sir Philip Monckton. Parliamentary victory; a Royalist cavalry force of about 800-1,000 men riding south from the fall of Pontefract and the sack of Lincoln, intending to relieve the siege of Colchester, was intercepted and routed by Rossiter's combined Midlands Parliamentarian force near Willoughby; Sir Philip Monckton was captured along with several hundred of his men.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Willoughby Field lies on Lias Group, bedrock that formed in the Aalenian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, limestone and sandstone.

Casualties & Losses
  • Contemporary accounts (reprinted by the Thoroton Society, 1913) state that Rossiter's men took about 600 horse and their riders and took the Royalist commander-in-chief and his officers with all their baggage; about 500 common soldiers were captured and about 100 slain. Colonel Rossiter was wounded in the thigh.
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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Willoughby Field

This page covers Battle of Willoughby Field. 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 Willoughby Field

Moat, fishpond, enclosures, hollow way and postmill mound 600m north-west of Barland Fields
Moat, fishpond, enclosures, hollow way and postmill mound 600m north-west of Barland Fields
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

Moat, fishpond, enclosures, hollow way and postmill mound 600m north-west of Barland Fields is a complex of medieval settlement features located in Nottinghamshire. The monument comprises an array of earthworks including a moated enclosure, associated fishpond, field enclosures, a hollow way indi…

Standing cross on Upper Broughton village green
Standing cross on Upper Broughton village green
Scheduled monument · ~3.2 mi

Standing cross on Upper Broughton village green is a medieval stone monument situated within the village of Upper Broughton in Nottinghamshire. The cross represents a surviving example of the market or meeting crosses that were common features of English villages and market settlements during the…

Mick Garratt / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Medieval market cross and 19th century commemorative cross
Medieval market cross and 19th century commemorative cross
Scheduled monument · ~4.9 mi

# Nottinghamshire Market and Commemorative Cross The monument designated NHLE 1012872 comprises a medieval market cross alongside a nineteenth-century commemorative cross located in Nottinghamshire. The medieval structure reflects the commercial and civic importance of its location during the Mid…

Richard Croft / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church
Scheduled monument · ~4.9 mi

St Mary's Church is a medieval parish church located in Nottinghamshire, England, with origins in the Norman period. The structure exhibits characteristics typical of medieval ecclesiastical architecture and has undergone modifications across successive centuries, reflecting changing liturgical p…

David Hallam-Jones / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Churchyard cross, All Saints' churchyard
Churchyard cross, All Saints' churchyard
Scheduled monument · ~5.5 mi

Churchyard cross, All Saints' churchyard is a medieval stone cross located in the churchyard of All Saints' Church in Leicestershire. The monument dates from the medieval period and represents a type of ritual and processional monument commonly found in English churchyards from the twelfth centur…

Jonathan Thacker / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Old Trent Bridge
Old Trent Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~6.9 mi

Old Trent Bridge is a medieval bridge crossing the River Trent at Nottingham, with origins dating to the twelfth century. The structure represents an important example of medieval river engineering and has undergone substantial rebuilding and repair across several centuries, most notably in the e…

John Sutton / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
St Wilfrid's Church and churchyard
Scheduled monument · ~2 miles
Saxon cemetery SW of Broughton Lodge
Scheduled monument · ~2.3 miles
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Battles near Battle of Willoughby Field

Siege of Mountsorrel Castle (1217)
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Midlands food riots, 1795
1795
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Danes of Leicester Submit to Aethelflaed, 918
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