Battlefields›Wyatt's Rebellion: Rochester Defection of Royal Forces, 1554
Tudor

Wyatt's Rebellion: Rochester Defection of Royal Forces, 1554

1554
Kent, England
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Kent, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Crown (Mary I)
VS
Victor
Rebels (Wyatt, temporarily)
Forces involved

Royal force under Norfolk approximately 500-1,000 men (500 Whitecoats plus Yeomen of the Guard); Wyatt's rebel force grew to roughly 3,000 after the defection and seizure of ships/cannon

Outcome
The Duke of Norfolk led a royal force (including the London 'Whitecoats' and some Yeomen of the Guard, roughly 500 to 1,000 men) to Rochester to attack Wyatt's rebels; instead, most of Norfolk's Whitecoats and some guardsmen deserted to the rebels shouting 'We are all Englishmen', forcing Norfolk to flee. The defection, combined with seized royal ships and cannon, swelled Wyatt's force to around 3,000 and encouraged his advance on London.
The Battle

History & Significance

Wyatt's Rebellion: Rochester Defection of Royal Forces, 1554 was a Tudor skirmish, fought in the area of Kent, England in 1554. Rebels (Wyatt, temporarily) prevailed over Crown (Mary I). The Duke of Norfolk led a royal force (including the London 'Whitecoats' and some Yeomen of the Guard, roughly 500 to 1,000 men) to Rochester to attack Wyatt's rebels; instead, most of Norfolk's Whitecoats and some guardsmen deserted to the rebels shouting 'We are all Englishmen', forcing Norfolk to flee. The defection, combined with seized royal ships and cannon, swelled Wyatt's force to around 3,000 and encouraged his advance on London.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Wyatt's Rebellion: Rochester Defection of Royal Forces, 1554 lies on Cenozoic sedimentary rocks, bedrock that formed in the Eocene. The rock here is sedimentary rocks; London Basin.

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Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
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Civil War
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Geology
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Literature
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Wyatt's Rebellion: Rochester Defection of Royal Forces, 1554

Rochester Castle
Rochester Castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 mi

Rochester Castle is a Norman fortress situated on the River Medway in Rochester, Kent, originally constructed following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The castle's most imposing feature is its great keep, a four-storey stone tower erected in the early twelfth century, which stands approximately thi…

Clem Rutter, Rochester, Kent / CC BY 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bridge Chapel
Bridge Chapel
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 mi

Bridge Chapel is a medieval chapel situated in Kent, England, with origins in the fourteenth century. The structure represents a rare surviving example of a bridge chapel, a building type designed to serve both religious and practical functions within the medieval landscape. The chapel was constr…

ClemRutter / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Rochester city wall
Rochester city wall
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Rochester city wall is a substantial medieval fortification enclosing the historic settlement of Rochester in Kent, England. The wall was constructed primarily during the Norman period, with significant portions dating from the twelfth century onwards, and represents one of the most complete urba…

Chris Whippet / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Open areas within Roman, Saxon and medieval town
Open areas within Roman, Saxon and medieval town
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Open areas within Roman, Saxon and medieval town is an ancient monument designation in Kent that encompasses the public and private spaces that structured urban life across multiple periods of occupation and development. The site represents the archaeological remains of a settlement that was cont…

Chris Whippet / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Temple Manor, Strood
Temple Manor, Strood
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 mi

Temple Manor is a 13th-century stone-built house located in Strood, Kent, which survives as one of the oldest domestic structures in the region. The building dates to approximately 1240 and is associated with the Knights Templar, who held extensive lands in the area during the medieval period. Th…

Clem Rutter, Rochester, Kent. / CC BY 2.5 / Wikimedia Commons
Fort Clarence
Fort Clarence
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Fort Clarence is a nineteenth-century coastal defence fortification located near Gravesend in Kent. Built during the 1860s as part of the Palmerston Forts programme, it was designed to protect the Thames estuary and London from potential naval attack during a period of heightened tension with Fra…

David Anstiss / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Remains of Rochester Priory cloister
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 miles
Chatham Dockyard, Chain Cable shed
Scheduled monument · ~1.1 miles
More from this era

Other Tudor Battles

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Simnel March into Yorkshire 1487
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In the same landscape

Battles near Wyatt's Rebellion: Rochester Defection of Royal Forces, 1554

Peasants' Revolt: Rochester Castle and Bridge, 1381
1381
~0.2 miles away
Wyatt's Rebellion: Rochester Bridge Skirmish, 1554
1554
~0.2 miles away
Danish Fleet Besieges Rochester 884
884
~0.4 miles away
Battle of the Medway
43
~1.1 miles away
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