Battle of Kings Norton

Who Fought

History & Significance

The Battle of Kings Norton was fought on 17 October 1642. The skirmish developed out of a chance encounter between Royalists under the command of Prince Rupert and Parliamentarians under the command of Lord Willoughby. Both forces had been on their way to join their respective armies which were later to meet at Edgehill in the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. The Parliamentarians won the encounter and both forces proceeded to join their respective armies.

On Monday 17 October 1642 King Charles I was marching south through Birmingham. While passing through the town some of the Royal carriages were pillaged and the contents sent to Warwick Castle a parliamentary stronghold.

Rupert, whose soldiers had been cantoned in Stourbridge after his victory at the Battle of Powick Bridge, left the town on 17 October to join King Charles with 9 troops of horse and about 300 foot. If any reliance is to be placed on one surviving tract of the encounter, Rupert's march crossed the path of a Parliamentary party under the command of Lord Willoughby of Parham on his way to join the Earl of Essex's parliamentary army.

Lord Willoughby who was in command of about 800 horse and foot met Prince Rupert somewhere between Stourbridge and Birmingham, probably in the Kings Norton area. The resulting skirmish was "very fierce and cruel". It was the Royalists who disengaged having lost between 50 and 80 killed with 20 taken prisoner. The Parliamentarians kept possession of the battlefield losing between 17 and 20 men.

Both parties continued on to their destinations: Rupert joined King Charles, while Lord Willoughby joined Essex. The historian J. W. Willis-Bund speculated that it may have been Willoughby who provided the information on Rupert's (and the King's) movements, which led Essex to move his army towards Worcester on 19 October.

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Kings Norton lies on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Kings Norton

Guillotine Lock, Stratford Canal

Scheduled monument · ~0.5 mi

Guillotine Lock is a lock on the Stratford Canal in Worcestershire, England, dating from the early nineteenth century. The lock takes its name from its distinctive guillotine gate mechanism, which operated by dropping vertically rather than by the conventional swing gates found on most canal lock…

Roger Kidd / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Burnt mounds in Woodlands Park, 540m and 640m west of The Pavilion

Scheduled monument · ~1.3 mi

Burnt mounds in Woodlands Park, located 540 metres and 640 metres west of The Pavilion in Worcestershire, are a scheduled ancient monument consisting of two distinct mounds composed of fire-reddened stone and charcoal-rich deposits. These features date to the Bronze Age and represent the accumula…

Richard Law / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Berry Mound Camp, Solihull

Scheduled monument · ~2.8 mi

Berry Mound Camp is a prehistoric hillfort situated in Solihull, Warwickshire. The monument consists of a prominent earthwork with defensive banks and ditches characteristic of Iron Age fortifications, though the precise chronology of its construction and use remains a subject of archaeological s…

Ted and Jen / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Roman forts at Metchley

Scheduled monument · ~3 mi

Metchley is a Roman fort situated near Birmingham in Warwickshire, England, dating to the late first century AD. The fort was established during the Roman advance into the Midlands, likely in the late 70s or early 80s AD, and served as a strategic military installation during the campaigns of Agr…

Chris Allen / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Weoley Castle

Scheduled monument · ~3.1 mi

Weoley Castle is a motte-and-bailey fortress located near Birmingham in Worcestershire, constructed in the Norman period during the twelfth century. The castle comprises a substantial earthwork with a mound and surrounding ditches, representing a typical example of early Norman military architect…

Adrian Bailey / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Burnt mounds at Moseley Bog, 380m north east of Moseley New Pool

Scheduled monument · ~3.3 mi

Burnt mounds at Moseley Bog is an ancient monument consisting of concentrations of fire-cracked stone and burnt material located in Worcestershire. The site represents evidence of Bronze Age activity, a period when such burnt mounds were commonly created through heating stones in water for cookin…

Dgreenfields / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

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• Battle of Kings Norton · Wikidata
• Battle_of_Kings_Norton · Wikipedia