Battle of Winwick (also known as Battle of Red Bank) 1648
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary.
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1648 | Historic England NHLE name |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 17th century | derived |
| Period | Civil Wars | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| Registered area | 143.8 ha | Historic England |
| Grid reference | SJ5991193705 | Historic England |
| Historic England list entry | 1412878 | Historic England |
| Designated | 2018-01-31 | Historic England |
About the battle
The Battle of Winwick (also known as the Battle of Red Bank) was fought on 19 August 1648 near the Lancashire village of Winwick between part of a Royalist army under Lieutenant General William Baillie and a Parliamentarian army commanded by Lieutenant General Oliver Cromwell. The Royalists were defeated with all of those who took part in the fighting, their army's entire infantry force, either killed or captured. The Royalist mounted component fled but surrendered five days after the battle. Winwick was the last battle of the Second English Civil War.
The First English Civil War between Royalist supporters of Charles I and an alliance of Parliamentarian and Scottish forces ended in 1646 with Charles defeated and a prisoner. He continued to negotiate with several factions among his opponents and this sparked the Second English Civil War in 1648: a series of mutinies and Royalist uprisings in England and Wales, and a Scottish Royalist invasion of north-west England. The invading army was attacked and defeated by a smaller Parliamentarian army at the battle of Preston on 17 August.
Visiting the battlefield
The site of the battle was listed by Historic England on the Register of Historic Battlefields on 31 January 2018. It is one of only 47 English battlefields accorded the status of being the location of an "engagement of national significance". It is noted to be "the only English battlefield of the Second Civil War which remains in a good state of preservation." The site of the battle and the "Red Bank" have been shown on Ordnance Survey maps since 1849. At the time of the battle the area was moorland and rough grazing with wooded, marshy valleys.
Location
- OS grid reference: SJ5991193705
- Approximate centre of registered area: 53.4386, -2.6050
- Registered area: 143.8 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 Winwick (revision 1370276954), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Battlefield today”; 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
- Battle of Warrington Bridge 1651 · 6 km
- Battle of Wigan Lane 1651 · 15 km
- Battle of Winnington Bridge 1644 · 19 km
- Bolton Massacre 1644 · 19 km
- Battle of Ormskirk 1644 · 23 km
- Second Battle of Middlewich 1643 · 29 km
Browse more: battles in England · Civil Wars · 17th century battles