Battle of Edgehill 1642
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Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary. Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 November 1642 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1642 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | First English Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Cavalier, Roundhead | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 52.1400, -1.4842 | Wikidata P625 |
| Official record | Historic England list entry 1000009 | OGL v3 |
| Registered area | 1054.9 ha | OGL v3 |
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.
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; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Battlefield boundary © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See also this battlefield on Battlefields of Britain.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Edgcote 1469 · 16 km
- Battle of Edgcote 1469 · 16 km
- Siege of Kenilworth 1266 · 24 km
- Battle of Stow-on-the-Wold 1646 · 28 km
- Battle of Evesham 1265 · 32 km
Other battles of the First English Civil War
- Battle of Aylesbury 1642
- Battle of Babylon Hill 1642
- Battle of Brentford (1642) 1642
- Battle of Powick Bridge 1642
- Battle of Turnham Green 1642
- Siege of Hull (1642) 1642
- Siege of Reading 1642
- Battle of Adwalton Moor 1643
- Battle of Aldbourne Chase 1643
- Battle of Braddock Down 1643
All 45 battles of the First English Civil War →
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