BattlefieldsEssex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601
Tudor

Essex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601

1601
Middlesex, England
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Middlesex, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
VS
Victor
The Crown (Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral)
Forces involved

Essex had approximately 200-300 armed followers with him; the size of the besieging royal force is not precisely recorded in the sources reviewed.

Outcome
Essex and around 200-300 armed followers marched into the City of London on 8 February 1601 to raise support but failed to rouse the citizenry; he returned to Essex House on the Strand, which was besieged by royal forces under the Earl of Nottingham; a cannon was positioned on the roof of St Clement's Church aimed at the house; Essex burned incriminating evidence and surrendered by evening; he was tried and executed for treason on 25 February 1601.
The Battle

History & Significance

Essex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601 was a Tudor siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Middlesex, England in 1601. The Crown (Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral) prevailed over Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Essex and around 200-300 armed followers marched into the City of London on 8 February 1601 to raise support but failed to rouse the citizenry; he returned to Essex House on the Strand, which was besieged by royal forces under the Earl of Nottingham; a cannon was positioned on the roof of St Clement's Church aimed at the house; Essex burned incriminating evidence and surrendered by evening; he was tried and executed for treason on 25 February 1601.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Essex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601 lies on Eocene claystone, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is claystone.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Essex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601

This page covers Essex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601. 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 Essex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601 report
Or see a real report first
Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Essex's Rebellion: Siege of Essex House 1601

Inner Temple Hall Buttery
Inner Temple Hall Buttery
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Inner Temple Hall Buttery is a sixteenth-century service building forming part of the Inner Temple precinct in London. The structure dates from approximately 1570 and served the practical function of storing and dispensing provisions for the Inn of Court. It represents an important example of Tud…

Jim Linwood / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Apothecaries' Hall
Apothecaries' Hall
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 mi

Apothecaries' Hall is a Grade I listed building located in Blackfriars, London, that serves as the headquarters of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London. The hall was constructed in the seventeenth century following the Great Fire of London in 1666, replacing an earlier medieval struct…

Elisa.rolle / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Barnard's Inn Hall (Mercers' School)
Barnard's Inn Hall (Mercers' School)
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Barnard's Inn Hall is a timber-framed building of fifteenth-century origin located in Gresham Street, London. The hall formerly served as the principal building of Barnard's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery that provided legal education and accommodation for trainee lawyers during the medieval an…

Baynard's Castle, 78m south-west of St Benet Metropolitan Welsh Church
Baynard's Castle, 78m south-west of St Benet Metropolitan Welsh Church
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Baynard's Castle is a Norman castle of which only fragmentary remains survive in the City of London. The site was originally established in the late eleventh century by the Baynard family, who were prominent Norman landholders, and the castle subsequently passed through various aristocratic hands…

Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Stationers' Hall
Stationers' Hall
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Stationers' Hall is a seventeenth-century building located in London, Middlesex, serving as the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. The hall was constructed following the Great Fire of London in 1666 and represents an important example of post-fire City of L…

Katie Chan / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
London Wall: site of Newgate and 121-124 Newgate Street, remains of Roman and medieval wall, gateway and bastion
London Wall: site of Newgate and 121-124 Newgate Street, remains of Roman and medieval wall, gateway and bastion
Scheduled monument · ~0.7 mi

London Wall, site of Newgate and 121-124 Newgate Street, is a scheduled ancient monument comprising substantial remains of Roman and medieval defensive fortification. The site preserves sections of the Roman city wall of Londinium, constructed in the late second century AD as part of the fortifie…

London Remembers / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Remains of Roman and medieval wall and gateway W of boundary of Stationers' Hall to Ludgate Hill
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 miles
London Wall: section in Amen Court
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 miles
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around Middlesex

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 MiddlesexView a sample report