Battlefields›Siege of Warrington
English Civil War

Siege of Warrington

1643
Lancashire, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Lancashire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Parliamentarians (Sir William Brereton)
VS
Victor
Royalists (James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby)
Forces involved

Parliamentarians under Sir William Brereton, advancing from Northwich; Royalists associated with James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, headquartered at Warrington

Outcome
Royalist victory; Parliamentarian forces under Sir William Brereton were routed at Stockton Heath.
The Battle

History & Significance

Siege of Warrington was a Civil War siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought in the area of Lancashire, England in 1643. Royalists (James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby) prevailed over Parliamentarians (Sir William Brereton). Royalist victory; Parliamentarian forces under Sir William Brereton were routed at Stockton Heath.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Warrington lies on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

Buried history

A vivid impression of the ground over which the Parliamentarians were routed in 1643 is preserved in James Grant's 1859 novel Hollywood Hall, which describes Stockton Heath as "a wide waste common... past which the Mersey rolled amid swamps and morasses filled with rushes and willows," conjuring the treacherous terrain that may well have contributed to the undoing of Sir William Brereton's advancing forces.

Casualties & Losses
  • Unverified local legend suggests many Parliamentarian soldiers were buried at Hill Cliffe and Budworth
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Warrington

This page covers Siege of Warrington. 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 Siege of Warrington

Bank Quay transporter bridge
Bank Quay transporter bridge
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Bank Quay transporter bridge is a steel transporter bridge located in Runcorn, Cheshire, spanning the River Mersey. Constructed between 1894 and 1905, it represents an important example of Victorian engineering innovation, designed to carry pedestrians and vehicles across the river by means of a…

Jeffsbuslane at English Wikipedia / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Augustinian Abbey known as Norton Priory
Augustinian Abbey known as Norton Priory
Scheduled monument · ~4.7 mi

Norton Priory is a former Augustinian monastery located near Runcorn in Cheshire, founded in the twelfth century as a priory and subsequently elevated to abbey status. The site was established around 1134 by William FitzNigel as a house of Augustinian canons and flourished throughout the medieval…

Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
New Manor Farm moated site
New Manor Farm moated site
Scheduled monument · ~5.1 mi

New Manor Farm moated site is a medieval moated enclosure located in Cheshire, England. The site comprises a substantial rectangular moat that formerly enclosed a manor house and its associated domestic buildings, a characteristic defensive and status-marking feature of medieval gentry settlement…

Dave.Dunford / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Standing cross in St Luke's churchyard, Farnworth, beside the south porch
Standing cross in St Luke's churchyard, Farnworth, beside the south porch
Scheduled monument · ~5.4 mi

Standing cross in St Luke's churchyard, Farnworth is a medieval monument situated beside the south porch of the parish church. The cross dates to the medieval period, though precise dating is uncertain without detailed archaeological analysis. It survives as a standing stone marker within the chu…

David Dixon / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Halton Castle: a ruined shell keep castle on the site of an earlier motte and bailey
Halton Castle: a ruined shell keep castle on the site of an earlier motte and bailey
Scheduled monument · ~5.7 mi

Halton Castle is a ruined shell keep castle situated in Cheshire, England, occupying the site of an earlier motte and bailey fortification. The stone keep, which survives as a substantial fragmentary structure, was constructed in the 12th century on the elevated mound of the earlier earthwork cas…

Rept0n1x / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Heavy Anti-aircraft gunsite, 400m west of Sutton Fields Farm
Heavy Anti-aircraft gunsite, 400m west of Sutton Fields Farm
Scheduled monument · ~6.5 mi

Heavy Anti-aircraft gunsite, 400m west of Sutton Fields Farm, is a Second World War defensive installation located in Cheshire. The site comprises the remains of an anti-aircraft gun emplacement constructed during the period of intensive air defence preparations in the early 1940s. Such installat…

Bewsey Old Hall moated site, fishpond and connecting channel
Scheduled monument · ~1.1 miles
Roman settlement at Wilderspool
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 miles
More from this era

Other English Civil War Battles

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Iona — Chiefs Signing Under Duress 1609
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In the same landscape

Battles near Siege of Warrington

Battle of Warrington Bridge (1651)
1651
~0.4 miles away
Battle of Winwick
1648
~1 miles away
Edward Builds Thelwall Burh 919
919
~2.1 miles away
Battle of Winwick (also known as Battle of Red Bank) 1648
1648
~3.8 miles away
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Sources
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