Battle of Lostwithiel 1644
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary. Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 13 August 1644 – 2 September 1644 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1644 | Wikidata P580 (start 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 | 50.4080, -4.6670 | Wikidata P625 |
| Official record | Historic England list entry 1413762 | OGL v3 |
| Registered area | 214.5 ha | OGL v3 |
About the battle
The Battle of Lostwithiel took place over a 13-day period from 21 August to 2 September 1644, around the town of Lostwithiel and along the River Fowey valley in Cornwall during the First English Civil War. A Royalist army led by Charles I of England defeated a Parliamentarian force commanded by the Earl of Essex.
Although Essex and most of the cavalry escaped, between 5,000 and 6,000 Parliamentarian infantry were forced to surrender. Since the Royalists were unable to feed so many, they were given a pass back to their own territory, arriving in Southampton a month later having lost nearly half their number to disease and desertion.
Considered one of the worst defeats suffered by Parliament over the course of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, it secured South West England for the Royalists until early 1646.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Lostwithiel (revision 1370448095), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; 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
- Battle of Braddock Down 1643 · 7 km
- Battle of Hingston Down 838 · 32 km
- Battle of Gunnislake New Bridge · 35 km
- Siege of Plymouth 1642 · 37 km
- Battle of Stratton 1643 · 49 km
- Battle of Sourton Down 1643 · 54 km
Other battles of the First English Civil War
- Second Battle of Middlewich 1643
- Siege of Gloucester 1643
- Siege of Hull (1643) 1643
- Siege of Lichfield 1643
- Siege of Worcester (1643) 1643
- Battle of Nantwich 1644
- Battle of Selby 1644
- Battle of Tipton Green 1644
- Relief of Montgomery Castle 1644
- Second Battle of Newbury 1644
All 45 battles of the First English Civil War →
Browse more: battles in England · Europe · Early modern battles