Battle of Sedgemoor 1685

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Battlefield
List Entry Number:: 1000032
Date first listed:: 06-Jun-1995

User submitted image — Uploaded by Historic England Archive This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Battlefield
List Entry Number:: 1000032
Date first listed:: 06-Jun-1995
Location Description:: SEDGEMOOR

This list entry identifies a battlefield which is registered because of its special historic interest.

Understanding registered battlefields

Corrections and minor amendments

This list entry identifies a battlefield which is registered because of its special historic interest.

Understanding registered battlefields

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Chedzoy
District:: Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Westonzoyland
National Grid Reference:: ST 35039 35908

Details

BATTLE OF SEDGEMOOR 1685

The Monmouth Rebellion of June-July 1685 was an attempt to usurp the crown of England by James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, from the Catholic King James II.

Having spent a year in voluntary exile in the Netherlands, Monmouth landed in Dorset in June 1685. Despite a number of setbacks, he had gathered around him an army of 7,000 men by the time he was faced by the royal army near Westonzoyland. Monmouth decided to chance all upon a night attack.

On the night of 5/6 July, Monmouth's rebels advanced. However, they hesitated at the Bussex Rhyne watercourse and instead of rushing the royal army, took it in at a distance in a firefight. All night the forces exchanged musket and cannon fire, but at daybreak the King's army advanced, crossed the Rhyne and forced the rebels to flee. Many were caught and killed in what is now Moor Drove Rhyne.

The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last pitched battle to be fought on English soil. Three days after his defeat, Monmouth was captured and later executed. Hundreds of his supporters suffered at the hands of Judge Jeffreys' Bloody Assizes.

The landscape of the battlefield was similar in character to that of today, with pasture on the moors and arable on the higher ground. The chief difference is the regularity of the drains, which were improved in the late eighteenth century. The Bussex Rhyne had been infilled but is visible on aerial photographs.

AMENITY FEATURES Somerset Tourism already promotes the 'Pitchfork Rebellion Trail'. A trail board is sited at Chedzoy church.

OTHER DESIGNATIONS Part if the battlefield is within a Special Landscape Area. It is also an Area of High Archaeological Potential.

KEY SOURCES RCHM, 1904, Report on the manuscripts of Mrs Stopford-Sackville, vol. 1

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:: 33
Legacy System:: Battlefields

Sources

Websites
English Heritage Battlefield Report: Battle of Sedgemoor 1685 (Published 1995), accessed 10th April 2019 from https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/listing/battlefields/sedgemoor/