Battlefields›Battle of Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403
Medieval

Battle of Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403

1403
Shropshire, England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Shropshire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Hotspur (Sir Henry Percy)
VS
Victor
Henry IV
Forces involved

Royal army approximately 12,000 to 14,000 men; rebel army approximately 10,000 men, mainly Cheshire volunteers hastily assembled

Outcome
Decisive royal victory; Hotspur was killed by an arrow and the rebel line collapsed, ending the Percy challenge to Henry IV's rule.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403 was a medieval pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought at Shropshire, England in 1403. Henry IV prevailed over Hotspur (Sir Henry Percy). Decisive royal victory; Hotspur was killed by an arrow and the rebel line collapsed, ending the Percy challenge to Henry IV's rule.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403 lies on Permian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Permian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

Casualties & Losses
  • Estimates vary widely; contemporary counts recorded around 1,847 corpses on the battlefield (mostly rebels) with further deaths along the three-mile route of the rebel flight; other estimates put combined dead at around 1,600 with thousands more wounded, some dying subsequently; chronicler Adam Usk claimed 16,000 dead, considered an exaggeration
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403

This page covers Battle of Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403. 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 Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403

Haughmond Abbey: an Augustinian monastery on the site of an earlier religious foundation, a post-Dissolution residence and garden remains
Haughmond Abbey: an Augustinian monastery on the site of an earlier religious foundation, a post-Dissolution residence and garden remains
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 mi

Haughmond Abbey is an Augustinian house founded in the twelfth century in Shropshire, established on the site of an earlier religious foundation. The monastery flourished during the medieval period as an important Augustinian community before its dissolution in 1539. Substantial remains survive,…

JohnArmagh / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Slight univallate hillfort and a World War II vehicle testing station on the summit of Ebury Hill, 550m west of Haughton Farm
Slight univallate hillfort and a World War II vehicle testing station on the summit of Ebury Hill, 550m west of Haughton Farm
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 mi

Slight univallate hillfort is a prehistoric defensive earthwork located on Ebury Hill near Haughton Farm in Shropshire. The monument comprises a single bank and ditch defining an enclosed hilltop settlement, characteristic of Iron Age fortification practices in the region. The site's archaeologic…

Sandy Gerrard / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Moated site and associated ridge and furrow cultivation remains, 145m south of St Mary Magdalene's Church
Moated site and associated ridge and furrow cultivation remains, 145m south of St Mary Magdalene's Church
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 mi

The moated site and associated ridge and furrow cultivation remains located 145 metres south of St Mary Magdalene's Church is a medieval monument comprising a residential enclosure surrounded by a defensive water-filled ditch alongside evidence of former open-field agriculture. The moat represent…

Sandy Gerrard / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Medieval cross in St Martin's churchyard, Preston Gubbals
Medieval cross in St Martin's churchyard, Preston Gubbals
Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

St Martin's churchyard medieval cross in Preston Gubbals is a standing cross of medieval date located within the churchyard of the parish church. The monument survives as a stone structure and represents a type of religious monument common to English churchyards during the medieval period, servin…

Eirian Evans / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Slight univallate hillfort, an 18th century folly and a World War II spigot mortar emplacement, on the summit of Haughmond Hill
Slight univallate hillfort, an 18th century folly and a World War II spigot mortar emplacement, on the summit of Haughmond Hill
Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

Slight univallate hillfort is an Iron Age earthwork located on the summit of Haughmond Hill in Shropshire. The monument consists of a single defensive bank and ditch enclosing the hilltop, characteristic of univallate hillfort construction during the Iron Age period. The site was later reused dur…

Sandy Gerrard / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Shrewsbury Castle
Shrewsbury Castle
Scheduled monument · ~2.9 mi

Shrewsbury Castle is a Norman castle founded in the late eleventh century by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, positioned strategically on a promontory overlooking the River Severn in Shropshire. The castle was constructed with a motte-and-bailey design typical of post-Conquest fortificati…

CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
College of St Mary Magdalene at Battlefield
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 miles
Harlescott Grange moated site
Scheduled monument · ~1.1 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Shrewsbury (Percy revolt against Henry IV), 1403

Percy Revolt 1403
1403
~0 miles away
Battle of Shrewsbury 1403
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~0.5 miles away
Anarchy: Shrewsbury Castle Siege 1138
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Siege of Shrewsbury Castle
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