Battlefields›Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471
Medieval

Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471

1471
Warwickshire, England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Warwickshire, England
Status
Unregistered
Forces involved

Lancastrian defenders (Warwick, joined by Montagu and Oxford) estimated at around 15,000; Yorkist besiegers under Edward IV around 6,000, rising to roughly 10,000 after Clarence's reconciliation on 3 April.

Outcome
No engagement took place. Warwick, holding Coventry with a larger force, refused Edward IV's repeated challenges to battle while waiting for reinforcements from Montagu and Clarence. Clarence instead reconciled with Edward on 3 April, nearly doubling the Yorkist army, but Edward lacked siege equipment and time to reduce the city, and withdrew on 5 April 1471 to march on London.
The Battle

History & Significance

Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471 was a medieval siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Warwickshire, England in 1471. No engagement took place. Warwick, holding Coventry with a larger force, refused Edward IV's repeated challenges to battle while waiting for reinforcements from Montagu and Clarence. Clarence instead reconciled with Edward on 3 April, nearly doubling the Yorkist army, but Edward lacked siege equipment and time to reduce the city, and withdrew on 5 April 1471 to march on London.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471 lies on Warwickshire Group, bedrock that formed in the Early Permian. The rock here is siltstone and sandstone with subordinate mudstone.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471

This page covers Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471. 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 Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471

Cook Street Gate
Cook Street Gate
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Cook Street Gate is a timber-framed gatehouse structure located in Warwickshire, dating to the medieval period. The gateway stands as evidence of the settlement patterns and defensive or administrative infrastructure of its era, with its timber construction being characteristic of medieval buildi…

E Gammie / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Cast iron single-span bridge 110m WNW of Sherbourne House
Cast iron single-span bridge 110m WNW of Sherbourne House
Scheduled monument · ~0.4 mi

Cast iron single-span bridge 110m WNW of Sherbourne House is a nineteenth-century bridge constructed from cast iron. The bridge exemplifies the industrial applications of cast iron that became prevalent during the Victorian era, reflecting the technological advances in metal working and civil eng…

Amanda Slater / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Coventry city walls
Coventry city walls
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Coventry city walls is a late medieval fortification enclosing the centre of Coventry in Warwickshire. The walls were constructed primarily during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, representing a significant investment in urban defence during the later Middle Ages. Substantial sections of t…

PC (Wikipedia Takes Coventry participant) / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Site of Charterhouse
Site of Charterhouse
Scheduled monument · ~0.9 mi

Site of Charterhouse is a Carthusian monastery situated in Warwickshire that dates to the medieval period. The monument represents the remains of a religious house established for the Carthusian order, a contemplative monastic community known for their austere practices and enclosed lifestyle. Th…

M.B. Quigley / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Motte castle 150m SSW of Allesley Hall
Motte castle 150m SSW of Allesley Hall
Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

Motte castle 150m SSW of Allesley Hall is a Norman motte-and-bailey earthwork situated in Warwickshire. The monument consists of a substantial mound of earth forming the motte, characteristic of defensive structures erected in the Norman period following the conquest of 1066. The castle exemplifi…

Anthony Vosper / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Roman fort at The Lunt
Roman fort at The Lunt
Scheduled monument · ~2.5 mi

The Lunt is a Roman auxiliary fort located near Coventry in Warwickshire, England. Constructed around 60 AD during the early Roman occupation of Britain, the fort served as a military installation during the campaigns following the Boudican revolt. The site is notable for its well-preserved defen…

Original uploader was Snowmanradio at en.wikipedia (Original text : snowmanradio) / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Site of Cloister, Chapter House and Undercrofts of Coventry Priory
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 miles
Moated site at Bishop Ullathorne School
Scheduled monument · ~2.3 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Yorkist Siege of Coventry, 1471

Siege of Coventry, 1642
1642
~0.4 miles away
Battle of Kenilworth 1265
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~4.9 miles away
Dudley Conspiracy Arrests 1556
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Aethelflaed Builds Warwick Burh 914
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Explore the history of Warwickshire
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