Battle of Marston Moor 1644
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary. Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 July 1644 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1644 | 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 | English Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Cavalier, Covenanters, Roundhead | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 53.9622, -1.2542 | Wikidata P625 |
| Official record | Historic England list entry 1000020 | OGL v3 |
| Registered area | 657.7 ha | OGL v3 |
About the battle
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639–1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Marquess of Newcastle.
During the summer of 1644, the Covenanters and Parliamentarians had been besieging York, which was defended by the Marquess of Newcastle. Rupert had gathered an army which marched through the northwest of England, gathering reinforcements and fresh recruits on the way, and across the Pennines to relieve the city. The convergence of these forces made the ensuing battle the largest of the civil wars.
On 1 July, Rupert outmanoeuvred the Covenanters and Parliamentarians to relieve the city. The next day, he sought battle with them even though he was outnumbered. He was dissuaded from attacking immediately and during the day both sides gathered their full strength on Marston Moor, an expanse of wild meadow west of York. Towards evening, the Covenanters and Parliamentarians themselves launched a surprise attack.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Marston Moor (revision 1370449166), 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
- Battle of Tadcaster 1642 · 9 km
- Siege of York 1644 · 11 km
- Battle of York (867) 867 · 11 km
- Battle of Bramham Moor 1408 · 12 km
- Battle of Fulford 1066 · 12 km
- Battle of Towton 1461 · 14 km
Other battles of the English Civil War
- Battle of Ripple Field 1643
- Battle of Roundway Down 1643
- Battle of Sourton Down 1643
- First Battle of Middlewich 1643
- Siege of Basing House 1643
- Battle of Boldon Hill 1644
- Battle of Cheriton 1644
- Battle of Cropredy Bridge 1644
- Battle of Ormskirk 1644
- Siege of York 1644
All 22 battles of the English Civil War →
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