Battle of Edgehill 1642
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Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary.
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1642 | Historic England NHLE name |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 17th century | derived |
| Period | Civil Wars | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | First English Civil War | Wikidata |
| Participants | Cavalier, Roundhead | Wikidata |
| Registered area | 1054.9 ha | Historic England |
| Grid reference | SP3396249503 | Historic England |
| Historic England list entry | 1000009 | Historic England |
| Designated | 1995-06-06 | Historic England |
About the battle
The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642.
All attempts at constitutional compromise between King Charles and Parliament broke down early in 1642. Both the King and Parliament raised large armies to gain their way by force of arms. In October, at his temporary base near Shrewsbury, the King decided to march to London in order to force a decisive confrontation with Parliament's main army, commanded by the Earl of Essex.
Late on 22 October, both armies unexpectedly found the enemy to be close by. The next day, the Royalist army descended from Edge Hill to force battle. After the Parliamentarian artillery opened a cannonade, the Royalists attacked. Both armies consisted mostly of inexperienced and sometimes ill-equipped troops. Many men from both sides fled or fell out to loot enemy baggage, and neither army was able to gain a decisive advantage.
Visiting the battlefield
Location
- OS grid reference: SP3396249503
- Approximate centre of registered area: 52.1390, -1.4792
- Registered area: 1054.9 hectares
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Edgehill (revision 1370109991), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Battlefield data © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Nearby battlefields
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- Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold 1646 · 27 km
- Battle of Evesham 1265 · 32 km
- Battle of Northampton 1264 · 41 km
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Other battles of the First English Civil War
- Battle of Aylesbury 1642
- Battle of Babylon Hill 1642
- Battle of Brentford 1642
- Battle of Turnham Green 1642
- Battle of Adwalton Moor 1643
- Battle of Aldbourne Chase 1643
- Battle of Braddock Down 1643
- Battle of Burton Bridge 1643
- Battle of Camp Hill 1643
- Battle of Chalgrove 1643
All battles of the First English Civil War →
Browse more: battles in England · Civil Wars · 17th century battles