Battlefields›Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force)
English Civil War

Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force)

1643
England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Royalists (Lord Herbert's Welsh relief force)
VS
Victor
Parliament (Sir William Waller and Colonel Edward Massey)
Outcome
Decisive Parliamentary victory on 24 March 1643. Waller's army combined with a sally from the Gloucester garrison under Massey to attack the entrenched Royalist Welsh force at Highnam; Royalist cavalry fled and the abandoned Welsh infantry surrendered without further fighting, with sources giving figures between about 1,400 and 1,594 prisoners taken along with arms, powder and Herbert's artillery. Gloucester's western blockade was lifted.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force) was a pitched battle of the English Civil War period, fought in England in 1643. This engagement forms part of the broader pattern of conflict that shaped the political and military history of the UK during this era.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force) lies on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.

Casualties & Losses
  • No specific killed/wounded figures recorded in the sources consulted; the Welsh infantry largely surrendered without combat, with prisoner counts variously given as about 1,400 to 1,594 men
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force)

This page covers Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force). 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 Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force)

Medieval defensive and settlement complex at Taynton Parva, 400m north west of Moorfields Farm
Medieval defensive and settlement complex at Taynton Parva, 400m north west of Moorfields Farm
Scheduled monument · ~1.6 mi

Taynton Parva is a medieval defensive and settlement complex located approximately 400 metres north west of Moorfields Farm in Gloucestershire. The site comprises earthwork remains that reflect patterns of medieval occupation and defensive organisation characteristic of the period. The complex is…

Philip Halling / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Churchyard cross in St Giles churchyard
Churchyard cross in St Giles churchyard
Scheduled monument · ~2.6 mi

The churchyard cross in St Giles churchyard is a medieval stone monument standing within the burial ground of the parish church. The cross represents a category of religious monuments that were common features of English churchyards from the medieval period onwards, serving both spiritual and pra…

Jonathan Thacker / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Over Bridge
Over Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~3.1 mi

Over Bridge is a medieval stone bridge crossing the River Severn near the village of Over in Gloucestershire. The bridge dates from the 13th century and represents an important river crossing on the route between Gloucestershire and Wales. Its construction reflects the strategic and commercial im…

Martin Richard Phelan / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Ashleworth tithe barn
Ashleworth tithe barn
Scheduled monument · ~3.4 mi

Ashleworth tithe barn is a fourteenth-century agricultural building located in Gloucestershire. The structure is constructed in stone with a timber roof frame and represents a substantial example of medieval barn architecture designed for the storage of agricultural produce and tithes. The barn's…

Throwawayhack / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Lady's Well
Lady's Well
Scheduled monument · ~4 mi

Lady's Well is a medieval holy well located in Gloucestershire, England. The site represents a place of pilgrimage and devotion that would have served the local community and passing travellers during the medieval period. Holy wells of this type were commonly associated with healing properties an…

D Eaketts / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Llanthony Secunda Priory
Llanthony Secunda Priory
Scheduled monument · ~4.1 mi

Llanthony Secunda Priory is a Benedictine monastery founded in the late eleventh century in Gloucestershire, established as a daughter house of Llanthony Prima in the Vale of Ewyas. The priory was strategically located in Gloucester itself to manage the extensive estates and resources of the Wels…

Rodw / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Moated site at Hartpury Court
Scheduled monument · ~1 miles
Over earthwork
Scheduled monument · ~2.9 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Highnam, 1643 (Parliamentary victory over Royalist Welsh relief force)

Siege of Gloucester Castle 1264
1264
~4.2 miles away
Siege of Gloucester
1643
~4.4 miles away
Siege of Gloucester during the Anarchy
1139
~4.4 miles away
Battle of Dyrham
577
~8.4 miles away
Aubrey Research

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