Nearly everyone in Britain lives within a half-hour drive of a battlefield. Some, like Hastings, Bannockburn and Bosworth, are familiar to most of us whereas others are relatively unknown, says Julian Humphrys.
Yet the battles fought on them all played their part in shaping the way that we live today, and all are worth a visit, not only to understand the events that took place but also to remember our ancestors who lost their lives there.
Here are 10 battles that shaped the British Isles into the country it is today
1. Maldon (Essex) 10 or 11 August 991
Maldon is one of the earliest English battles whose general location can be agreed with a reasonable degree of certainty. A fierce hand-to-hand struggle, it was fought after an East Anglian leader called Byrhtnoth confronted a Viking raiding force which had probably landed on Northey Island on the river Blackwater just east of Maldon.
Much of what we know about the fighting is drawn from an epic Anglo-Saxon poem which was written shortly after the battle. Needing to defeat the Vikings if he was to prevent them from raiding elsewhere, Byrhtnoth allowed them to cross the causeway that at low tide linked the island to the mainland where his army awaited them.
The ensuing battle turned against the East Anglians when Bryhnoth was killed but many of his retainers fought on, inflicting heavy losses on the victorious Vikings. Maldon was one of the first in a series of events that would eventually see the overthrow of King Ethelred the Unready and the temporary establishmentof a Danish dynasty on the throne of England. A riverside path leads out of the town past a large modern statue of the fallen English leader and on to the probable scene of the fighting.
2. Hastings (East Sussex) 14 October 1066
1066 is probably the best-known date in English history. It was in the autumn of that year that William of Normandy landed with an army in Sussex in a bid to seize the crown he considered his by right.
Harold, the new king of England, who had just defeated a Norwegian invasion in Yorkshire, marched south to confront him and on 14 October the two armies clashed on Senlac Hill, now modern-day Battle.
While Harold’s English troops fought on foot in closely packed ranks, William’s army was made up of both mounted knights and foot soldiers. The first Norman attacks were repelled with heavy losses but eventually the English line broke, Harold was hacked to death and the stage was set for the total Norman conquest of England.
The centre of the action is marked by the remains of the impressive Battle Abbey, founded at William’s express command to atone for the slaughter of his conquest. You can climb the abbey gatehouse for a bird’s eye view of the area.
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3. Bannockburn (Stirling) 23-24 June 1314
The most celebrated battle in Scottish history – Bannockburn – saw the crushing defeat of King Edward II’s English army by a smaller Scottish force led by King Robert the Bruce. Edward’s men were seeking to relieve Stirling Castle which was in English hands at the time, but the Scots used the wooded and marshy terrain south of Stirling to nullify their advantage in numbers.
On the first day of fighting, English attempts to force their way through to Stirling were beaten back,and Bruce further boosted Scottish morale by killing an English knight, Henry de Bohun, in single combat.
The following day, Bruce’s spearmen launched a fierce assault of their own, driving the disorganised English into a chaotic retreat. Whilst the English would not recognise Scottish independence for another fourteen years the battle put an effective end to their attempt to subdue their northern neighbour and was a fatal blow to the prestige of Edward II.
Although the precise location of the battle is still a matter of debate it’s generally agreed that the battlefield visitor and equestrian statue of King Robert stand near to where the first day’s action took place.
4. Towton (North Yorkshire) 29 March 1461
Fought near Tadcaster, Towton saw the crushing defeat of the Lancastrian forces of Henry VI,and the establishment of the House of York on the English throne.
The battle began with an exchange of archery in which Edward IVs Yorkists came off better, prompting the Lancastrians to move forward and attack. Although outnumbered, the Yorkists held on until the arrival of reinforcements tipped the balance in their favour.
Thousands of Lancastrians were cut down in the merciless pursuit that followed. There’s a clearly marked trail around this remarkably unchanged battlefield together with boards displaying information about the battle and those involved in it.
A track in Towton village leads down to the Cock Beck where it was written that so many bodies were piled up that they formed a bridge across the water.
5. Bosworth (Leicestershire) 22 August 1485
In a bid to claim the English throne Henry Tudor landed in Wales in August 1485 and marched with a small force into England where he faced Richard III near Market Bosworth. Richard had the larger army but some of his troops failed to fight for him and the powerful Stanley contingent threw in their lot with the Tudor pretender.
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Richard tried to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by leading a desperate charge against his rival but was cut down and killed and the victorious Henry Tudor was crowned by his supporters on the battlefield, becoming King Henry VII. A pleasant two-mile canal-side walk leads down from the battlefield centre on Ambion Hill to the fields where Richard fought and died.
6. Montgomery (Powys) 18 September 1644
Although virtually unknown today, Montgomery was one of the biggest battles ever to be fought in Wales. In September 1644 Sir John Byron’s royalists were besieging Montgomery castle when a Parliamentarian relief force under Sir John Meldrum arrived on the scene.
Byron moved to face them and when some of the Parliamentarian cavalry rode off to forage, he spotted his opportunity and ordered an attack. Initially Byron’s had the upper hand but then, checked by a determined stand by some Roundhead foot, threatened in the rear by the castle garrison and counter-attacked by the returning foragers, his army fell apart, and as a result the victorious Parliamentarians gained the initiative in North Wales.
Montgomery is an attractive battlefield to visit. A footpath from the nearby Offa’s Dyke leads to what is thought to be the centre of the action and it’s also well worth making the climb up to the remains of Montgomery Castle; the views from its ramparts are superb.
7. Naseby (Northamptonshire) 14 June 1645
Naseby was the decisive battle of the First Civil War in England. Although Sir Thomas Fairfax’s Parliamentarians enjoyed an advantage in numbers, King Charles’s Royalists began well, pushing back the enemy infantry in the centre and defeating most of the Roundhead cavalry on one of the wings.
But, on the other flank, Cromwell’s famous ‘Ironside’ cavalry drove back their opponents and then fell on the exposed Royalist infantry. Despite a long fighting retreat the Royalist army was all but destroyed. A monument to Oliver Cromwell is an excellent vantage point from which to survey the fields where the fighting took place, and the Naseby Battlefield Project offers regular in-depth walking tours.
8. Flodden (Northumberland) 9 September 1513
When James IV of Scotland invaded England in support of his French ally Louis XII who was at war with Henry VIII, the Earl of Surrey raised an English force to confront him. After a brief period of negotiation and manoeuvring the two armies clashed near Branxton village at what is now called Flodden Field.
Deployed in a strong position high up on a steep hill, James initially hoped to force the English to attack him but, goaded by Surrey’s artillery, he was forced to order an attack. His men become disorganised as they struggled down the slope with their long, unwieldy pikes and as they floundered in the boggy ground at the foot of the hill they were cut to pieces by Surrey’s men with their deadly bills.
Over 5,000 Scots fell at Flooden, including James IV - the last British monarch to die in battle. There’s good footpath access across the battlefield and some excellent information panels. As you make your way down the steep slopes of Branxton Hill to the wet ground at the bottom it’s easy to see why things turned out as they did.
9. Sedgemoor (Somerset) 5-6 July 1685
In June 1685, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth landed in Dorset in a bid to wrest the crown from the catholic James II. On 5 July his army was in Bridgwater facing Lord Feversham’s royalist force which was camped three miles away outside Westonzoyland, behind a ditch called the Bussex Rhyne.
Knowing his men stood little chance against Feversham’s regulars in a conventional battle, Monmouth decided to risk all in a night attack from an unexpected direction. Although Royalist patrols were operating in the area and Sedgemoor was criss-crossed with ditches and dykes, Monmouth’s men got to within a mile of Feversham’s position before the alarm was raised.
Unfortunately for Monmouth his cavalry missed the crossing across the Bussex Rhyne and scattered. A firefight then developed which only ended in the morning when Feversham’s army crossed the Rhyne and routed the rebels. Many were killed, others were later sentenced to death or transportation.
Monmouth himself would later be executed. The layout of Sedgemoor’s drains and ditches has changed since 1685 and the Bussex Rhyne has vanished, but the battlefield remains an extremely atmospheric place to visit. Be warned though, it’s easy to lose your way, as Monmouth’s cavalry did, while crossing the moor.
10. Culloden (Highland) 16 April 1746
The brief, bloody battle fought on this bleak moorland near Inverness marked the end of the last Jacobite bid to reclaim the British crown for the Stuarts.
After landing in the Outer Hebrides and cobbling together an army Charles Edward Stuart (or Bonnie Prince Charlie) advanced into England. He reached Derby before falling back to the Scottish Highlands.
He was eventually confronted a few miles outside Inverness by a government army under the Duke of Cumberland. After an exchange of artillery fire in which the Jacobites came off worse, Charles’s men set off to attack the larger government army on the other side of the moor. Many never got there while those who did were unable to break through the lines of Cumberland’s soldiers.
Eventually the Jacobites fell back, leaving Cumberland to conduct a brutal pursuit. Culloden has a superb visitor centre and much has been done to restore this evocative battlefield to the way it was at the time. Flags mark the positions of the two armies, and you get a good sense of how the uneven and in places boggy ground affected the fighting.
Bonnie Prince Charlie's dramatic escape to the Isle of Skye inspired one of Britain's most famous folk songs, and opening song lines, 'Speed bonnie boat'.