Battlefields›Standoff at Turnham Green (1642)
English Civil War

Standoff at Turnham Green (1642)

1642
Surrey, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Surrey, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Royalists (Charles I / Rupert)
VS
Victor
Parliamentarians
Forces involved

Royalists: approximately 13,000; Parliamentarians: approximately 24,000 (including the London Trained Bands under Philip Skippon)

Outcome
Parliamentarian strategic victory: the Royalist army under Charles I and the Earl of Forth did not attack the larger Parliamentarian force under the Earl of Essex and withdrew after minimal artillery exchange, blocking the Royalist advance on London and forcing Charles to retreat to Oxford for winter quarters.
The Battle

History & Significance

Standoff at Turnham Green (1642) was a Civil War pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought at Surrey, England in 1642. Parliamentarians prevailed over Royalists (Charles I / Rupert). Parliamentarian strategic victory: the Royalist army under Charles I and the Earl of Forth did not attack the larger Parliamentarian force under the Earl of Essex and withdrew after minimal artillery exchange, blocking the Royalist advance on London and forcing Charles to retreat to Oxford for winter quarters.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Standoff at Turnham Green (1642) lies on Thames Group, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.

Casualties & Losses
  • Fewer than 50 killed in total across both sides (not 50 killed on each side as previously recorded)
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Standoff at Turnham Green (1642)

This page covers Standoff at Turnham Green (1642). 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 Standoff at Turnham Green (1642) report
Or see a real report first
Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Standoff at Turnham Green (1642)

Chiswick House
Chiswick House
Scheduled monument · ~0.7 mi

Chiswick House is a Palladian villa constructed between 1725 and 1729 for Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, on his estate in Chiswick, west London. Designed by Burlington himself in emulation of the classical architecture of Andrea Palladio and the Veneto, the building represents a seminal s…

Michael Coppins / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Kew Palace (remains of)
Kew Palace (remains of)
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 mi

Kew Palace is a brick-built royal residence located within the grounds of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, in Surrey. The structure dates from 1631 and was constructed as a private house before being acquired by the royal family in the late eighteenth century. The palace served as a residence for m…

xlibber / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Pottery kiln in Walmer Road
Pottery kiln in Walmer Road
Scheduled monument · ~2.6 mi

# Pottery kiln in Walmer Road The Pottery kiln in Walmer Road is a Romano-British ceramic production site located in Middlesex. The kiln dates to the Roman period and represents evidence of local pottery manufacture within the settlement pattern of Roman Britain. The site is designated as a sched…

Warren Bennett / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
The Shene Charterhouse
The Shene Charterhouse
Scheduled monument · ~2.8 mi

The Shene Charterhouse is a Carthusian monastery founded in 1415 by Henry V on the outskirts of Richmond, Surrey. The house followed the strict contemplative rule of the Carthusian order and became one of England's most important charterhouses before its dissolution in 1539. The surviving remains…

Anton van den Wyngaerde / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace
Scheduled monument · ~3.4 mi

Kensington Palace is a royal residence located in Kensington Gardens, London, originally constructed as a substantial brick mansion in the late seventeenth century. The building was acquired by William III and Mary II in 1689 and subsequently enlarged by Christopher Wren and other architects, bec…

Steve Cadman from London, U.K. / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Hanwell flight of locks and brick boundary wall of St Bernard's Hospital
Hanwell flight of locks and brick boundary wall of St Bernard's Hospital
Scheduled monument · ~3.9 mi

The Hanwell flight of locks is a series of ten locks on the Grand Junction Canal constructed between 1794 and 1805, representing an important engineering solution to the significant change in water level required at this location in Middlesex. The accompanying brick boundary wall of St Bernard's…

Smeashy / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Fulham Palace moated site
Scheduled monument · ~2.6 miles
London's Early Porcelain Industries: The Isleworth Pottery
Scheduled monument · ~3.1 miles
More from this era

Other English Civil War Battles

Battle of Kringen
1612
Scotland
Campbell Raid into MacDonald Islay Territory 1612
1612
Scotland
Mackenzie Seizure of Lewis 1610
1610
Scotland
Iona — Chiefs Signing Under Duress 1609
1609
Scotland
In the same landscape

Battles near Standoff at Turnham Green (1642)

Battle of Turnham Green
1642
~0.1 miles away
Battle of Brentford (1642)
1642
~1.9 miles away
Wyatt's Rebellion: March through Brentford, February 1554
1554
~2 miles away
Ridolfi Plot Exposure and Norfolk Execution 1572
1571
~2.1 miles away
Explore the history of Surrey
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around Surrey

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 SurreyView a sample report
All Battlefields