Battle of Hopton Heath 1643
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Battlefield
- List Entry Number:
- 1000015
- Date first listed:
- 06-Jun-1995
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Battlefield
- List Entry Number:
- 1000015
- Date first listed:
- 06-Jun-1995
- Location Description:
- HOPTON HEATH
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This list entry identifies a battlefield which is registered because of its special historic interest.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This list entry identifies a battlefield which is registered because of its special historic interest.
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Staffordshire
- District:
- Stafford (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Hopton and Coton
- County:
- Staffordshire
- District:
- Stafford (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Salt and Enson
- National Grid Reference:
- SJ 95492 26423
Details
BATTLE OF HOPTON HEATH
1643
The Civil Wars of the mid seventeenth century were a reflection of profound political, constitutional, religious and social conflict which was expressed in a struggle for control between King and Parliament.
In March 1643 the Royalist position in Staffordshire proved of such concern to King Charles that he ordered the Earl of Northampton to lead a force north from Banbury to retrieve matters. Having secured Stafford, the Earl led his 1,200 troops, mostly cavalry, out to confront a Parliamentarian army of 1,500.
The armies clashed in the middle of the afternoon of 19 March on Hopton Heath, just outside Stafford. The battle was keenly fought and ended only at nightfall. Although the Earl of Northampton was killed the Royalists had the better of the encounter.
The landscape in 1643 was one of heathland with birch scrub but with enclosed grazing land around the present-day Heathyards. The land was enclosed and improved in the eighteenth century.
AMENITY FEATURES
Two good viewpoints for appreciating the battle are publicly accessible. A number of features of historic landscape importance survive but are not currently accessible. There is potential for a circular trail.
OTHER DESIGNATIONS
Part of the battlefield lies within a Special Landscape Area in the Local Plan. Historic Landscapes are subject to policies ED32 and ED33.
KEY SOURCES
Anon, 1643, Letter by a Royalist Eyewitness, published in the Staffordshire Record Society volume for 1936
Young, P, 1954, 'The Battle of Hopton Heath, 19th March 1643', in Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, XXXIII
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment to the Selected Sources on 10/04/2019
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 16
- Legacy System:
- Battlefields
Sources
Websites
English Heritage Battlefield Report: Battle of Hopton Heath 1643 (Published 1995), accessed 10th April 2019 from https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/listing/battlefields/hopton-heath/
Legal
This battlefield is registered within the Register of Historic Battlefields by Historic England for its special historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 01-Jul-2026 at 00:24:21.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.