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Battle of Hopton Heath, 1643: Stafford's Civil War battle

English Civil War · 19 March 1643 · Royalists vs Parliamentarians · ~9 min read · Updated October 2026

Next anniversary: 19 March 2027, the 384th anniversary 19 March in history ›

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Black and white reproduction of a seventeenth-century portrait of the Earl of Northampton in full dark armor, with a camp of white tents and pikes visible on the left.

Cornelius Johnson, “Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton”, oil on canvas, before 1643, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

At a glance

RoyalistsSpencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton (killed); Henry Hastings; Sir Thomas Byron
vs
ParliamentariansSir John Gell; Sir William Brereton
Date
19 March 1643 (Julian calendar, which England still used; 29 March in today's calendar)
Location
Hopton Heath, 2 to 4 miles northeast of Stafford, Staffordshire, England (accounts differ on the distance)
War
First English Civil War
Strength
Royalists: about 1,200, mostly cavalry; Parliamentarians: about 1,500 (Historic England, Historic UK). Royalist accounts put their own side under 1,000 and the enemy at twice as many
Losses
Not reliably known. Historic UK gives 300 to 500 casualties in all; Clarendon claims about 25 Royalists killed against more than 200 Parliamentarians killed or captured
Outcome
Inconclusive Royalist victory; Northampton killed, Parliamentarian guns taken
Quick answer

What happened at the Battle of Hopton Heath?

On 19 March 1643 Parliamentarian forces under Sir John Gell and Sir William Brereton, planning to take Stafford, were met on Hopton Heath outside the town by a smaller Royalist force, mostly cavalry, under the Earl of Northampton. The Royalist horse charged, routed the Parliamentarian horse and captured their guns, but Northampton was unhorsed and killed. Fighting stopped at nightfall and the Parliamentarians withdrew. Historic England judges that the Royalists had the better of the encounter; Staffordshire's archive service calls it an inconclusive Royalist victory.1

It was Sunday afternoon on a heath outside Stafford, and the light was already going. A Royalist earl in full armor had led two charges that swept the enemy horse off the field and overran their guns. Then his horse went down among the Parliamentarian foot, his own troopers galloped on after the fugitives, and he was left alone on the ground, surrounded. By nightfall the king's men held the field, the enemy's cannon and the road to Stafford. The enemy held the body of their general.2

Hopton Heath was the most significant battle fought in Staffordshire during the Civil War. It was small by the standards of Edgehill, but it was fought for the county town, and it cost the king the Earl of Northampton.3

Background: the race for the Midlands

The war between Charles I and Parliament had opened in the summer of 1642, and after the bloody draw at Edgehill in October both sides spent the winter tightening their grip on the counties. In Staffordshire the king's supporters held both Lichfield and the county town. Stafford mattered to both sides: it lay on the supply route between the king's capital at Oxford and the north, where Queen Henrietta Maria landed on the Yorkshire coast in February 1643 with money, officers and munitions from the Continent.4 › Battle of Edgehill, 1642

Hand-colored early seventeenth-century map of Staffordshire with rivers, hills and towns, an inset plan of the walled town of Stafford at top left and a plan of Lichfield at top right
John Speed's map of Staffordshire, published in 1610, a generation before the war. The inset plans show the two towns that framed the campaign of March 1643: Stafford, top left, and Lichfield with its cathedral close, top right. John Speed, Stafford Countie and Towne with the Ancient Citie Lichfeild Described, engraved map, hand-colored, 1610, Cambridge University Library. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Parliament moved first. Its commander in Warwickshire and Staffordshire, the Puritan peer Robert Greville, Lord Brooke, marched on Lichfield, whose cathedral close, ringed by a high wall, held a Royalist garrison. While directing the siege early in March he was shot in the eye by a defender firing from the close and died at once. Royalists made much of the date: it was the feast of St Chad, the patron saint of the cathedral that Brooke's guns were battering.5

Black and white engraving of a long-haired man in full armor on a prancing horse beneath an arch, with a coat of arms beside him and verses lamenting his death below
Robert Greville, Lord Brooke, Parliament's commander in Warwickshire and Staffordshire. He was shot dead from the walls of the cathedral close at Lichfield in early March 1643, and Sir John Gell took over the siege. The verses below the print mourn him. Unknown engraver, The Right Honble Robert Lord Brooke, Baron of Beauchamp Court, etching, KU Leuven print collection PA08740. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

His deputy, Sir John Gell of Derby, took over and pressed the siege so hard that the close surrendered within days. The loss of Lichfield alarmed the king, and some of the county's Royalists fell back on Stafford. Historic England notes that Charles ordered the Earl of Northampton north from Banbury to retrieve the situation in Staffordshire.6

Detailed black and white etching of a Gothic cathedral with three tall spires, seen from the south, standing inside a walled close, with a bishop's coat of arms in the sky at upper right
Lichfield Cathedral from the south, etched by Wenceslaus Hollar. The walled close around it was the Royalist strongpoint that Brooke and Gell besieged in March 1643; this state of the print carries a dedication dated 1672. Wenceslaus Hollar, Ecclesiae Cathedralis Lichfeldensis a Meridie Prospectus, etching, state 2, University of Toronto Wenceslaus Hollar Digital Collection. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Armies and commanders

Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, was one of the most committed Royalists in England. Before the king even raised his standard in August 1642 he had confronted Lord Brooke in Warwickshire and seized the artillery Brooke had parked at Banbury. He then held Banbury for the king. The Royalist historian Clarendon wrote that he dedicated his whole family to the quarrel: four of his sons served as officers under him.7

In mid-March Northampton rode north from Banbury with a strong party of horse and dragoons and a few foot, and at Stafford he joined forces with Colonel-General Henry Hastings and his horse. Together they made about 1,200 men, most of them cavalry, a figure Historic England and the BCW Project agree on. Royalist accounts put their own strength lower, at under 1,000.8

Facing them were two of Parliament's most energetic local commanders. Gell held Derby for Parliament, and his troops had just won at Lichfield. Sir William Brereton commanded for Parliament in Cheshire from his headquarters at Nantwich. They agreed to join forces on Hopton Heath, northeast of Stafford, and attack the town together. Historic England and Historic UK give them about 1,500 men on the day; Clarendon, writing as a Royalist, put their combined force at nearly 3,000 horse and foot with a good train of artillery.9

Dark locator map of England and Wales with a gold star in a glowing circle in the north Midlands, and a small world map inset on the left
Hopton Heath lies in the north Midlands, just outside Stafford, on the roads that linked the king's capital at Oxford with the north of England. Drawn for this article from Natural Earth data, with no modern borders. Location map: © Echoes of Battle (data: Natural Earth, public domain)

The battle in phases

Gell chooses his ground

Gell reached the heath first and drew up to wait for Brereton. A Royalist letter written after the battle and kept in the Staffordshire archives explains why that mattered: being first in the field, the enemy chose the ground. His musketeers lined the hedges and old walls on one flank, his main body of musket and pike stood on rough ground riddled with rabbit holes, where horses could not charge safely, and his guns sat on rising ground behind. The BCW Project's account of the deployment matches the letter closely.10

The Royalists were slow to answer. Their troops were quartered across the district, and by the time they had gathered and marched out of Stafford it was afternoon; Historic England dates the clash to the middle of the afternoon. Brereton's infantry had still not arrived, so Northampton decided to attack at once, before it could deploy.11

Roaring Meg opens fire

The Royalists brought up their one heavy gun, a piece nicknamed Roaring Meg. The BCW Project calls it a demi-cannon and the Staffordshire archive summary a 29-pounder; both agree it was fired into the Parliamentarian centre with telling effect, and the archive credits it with much of the Royalist success.12

Two charges and a fallen earl

Then Northampton charged. Clarendon says the heath looked fair and open, and that the Royalist horse, at least equal in number to the enemy's, routed one wing and then, rallying, broke the rest, so that the Parliamentarians had scarcely a horseman left on the field. In the second charge the Royalists overran the guns, taking eight pieces by the counts of both Clarendon and the Royalist letter.13

The cost came in the pursuit. Northampton was among the enemy foot when his horse was shot and fell, and his troopers, galloping after the fugitives, left him behind. What happened next was told by his enemies. According to both Clarendon and the BCW Project, he was offered quarter and refused it, saying he scorned to take quarter from such base rogues and rebels, and he was killed by a halberd blow to the back of the head. Clarendon adds that he had first killed the officer who reached him.14

The infantry holds

The Parliamentarian foot did not break. Sir Thomas Byron led the Prince of Wales's regiment against the infantry, with some effect, but he was badly wounded, and Northampton's eldest son, Lord Compton, was shot in the leg. The Royalist writer says these losses so disheartened the troopers that they could hardly be persuaded to charge again, though Hastings and the officers tried. Darkness was falling, and the open heath turned out to be full of pits and holes dangerous to horses.15

Turning point

The battle turned on the moment Northampton fell. Up to then the Royalists had done everything a cavalry army could: they had driven off the enemy horse and taken the guns, and the enemy infantry stood isolated on its warren. Without their general, and with Byron and Compton out of action, the Royalists could not land the final blow. Clarendon summed it up: the army that had all the signs of victory except its general thought itself undone, while the side that fled in the night hardly believed it had lost.16

Aftermath

Both armies stayed near the field after dark. When morning came there was no enemy to be seen: the Parliamentarians had slipped away in the night. The Royalists drew the captured guns back into Stafford. Brereton returned to Cheshire and Gell to Derby, and their attempt on Stafford was abandoned for the time being.17

The dead earl became a bargaining chip. Gell's men had carried his body off the field, and when his son, now the 3rd Earl, sent a trumpeter to ask for it, Gell and Brereton demanded in exchange the guns, ammunition and prisoners the Royalists had taken. Both the Royalist letter and Clarendon denounce this as against the laws of war, and the exchange was refused.18

Nobody counted the dead reliably. Clarendon put the Parliamentarian loss at more than 200 killed or captured, with as many again wounded, and the Royalist dead at only 25. The Royalist letter claimed ten enemy dead for every Royalist, and alleged that the enemy hid their dead in pools and pits. Historic UK gives a total of 300 to 500 casualties. All three figures come from writers with a side to take, or from later estimates.19

The Royalist recovery in the Midlands did not stop at Stafford. Within weeks Prince Rupert came north, and after a siege of about ten days he retook the close at Lichfield in late April.20

Legacy and memory

Hopton Heath is remembered less for what it decided than for whom it killed. Northampton's son James inherited the earldom and his father's regiments and fought on for the king, with his brothers beside him. Clarendon gave the dead earl one of the warmest portraits in his history: a man of great courage, honor and fidelity who bore every hardship like a common soldier, and who used to say that if he outlived these wars he was certain never to have so noble a death.21

The battle also shows the war's local character in its first year. It was fought by county forces under local magnates, for a county town, and both armies went home afterwards to Derby, Nantwich and Stafford. Its story belongs beside the larger battles that followed, from Newbury to Worcester.22

Visiting the battlefield today

The battlefield has been on Historic England's Register of Historic Battlefields since 1995. The open heath of 1643 is now enclosed farmland, crossed by public footpaths, and the Battlefields Trust has led guided walks of about three kilometers over the field from the village hall at Salt.23 › 19 March in military history

Notes

A number in the text points to a note; each note names the works that paragraph draws on, listed in full under Sources.

  1. Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; Historic England, “Battle of Hopton Heath 1643, list entry 1000015”; Historic UK, “The Battle of Hopton Heath”. ↩
  2. Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”. ↩
  3. Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; Historic UK, “The Battle of Hopton Heath”. ↩
  4. BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Historic UK, “The Battle of Hopton Heath”. ↩
  5. BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”. ↩
  6. BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Historic England, “Battle of Hopton Heath 1643, list entry 1000015”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”. ↩
  7. BCW Project, “Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, 1601-43”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; BCW Project, “Earl of Northampton's Regiment of Horse”. ↩
  8. BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Historic England, “Battle of Hopton Heath 1643, list entry 1000015”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”. ↩
  9. BCW Project, “Sir John Gell, c.1593-1671”; BCW Project, “Sir William Brereton, 1604-61”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Historic England, “Battle of Hopton Heath 1643, list entry 1000015”; Historic UK, “The Battle of Hopton Heath”. ↩
  10. Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”. ↩
  11. Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Historic England, “Battle of Hopton Heath 1643, list entry 1000015”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”. ↩
  12. BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”. ↩
  13. Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”. ↩
  14. Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; BCW Project, “Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, 1601-43”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”. ↩
  15. Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”. ↩
  16. Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”. ↩
  17. Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”. ↩
  18. Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; BCW Project, “Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, 1601-43”. ↩
  19. Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”; Staffordshire Past Track, “Contemporary account of the Battle of Hopton Heath, the most significant battle in Staffordshire during the Civil War”; Historic UK, “The Battle of Hopton Heath”. ↩
  20. BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”. ↩
  21. BCW Project, “Earl of Northampton's Regiment of Horse”; BCW Project, “Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, 1601-43”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”. ↩
  22. BCW Project, “Civil War in the Midlands, 1643”; Clarendon, “The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, vol. 2 (Book VI)”. ↩
  23. Historic England, “Battle of Hopton Heath 1643, list entry 1000015”; Heritage Open Days, “Big Battlefield Walk Weekends: Battle of Hopton Heath 1643”. ↩

Sources

Frequently asked questions

When was the Battle of Hopton Heath?

On 19 March 1643, during the First English Civil War. England then used the Julian calendar; in today's calendar the date is 29 March.

Where was the Battle of Hopton Heath fought?

On Hopton Heath, a few miles northeast of Stafford in Staffordshire, England. Contemporary accounts put it between two and four miles from the town.

Who won the Battle of Hopton Heath?

The Royalists held the field and took the Parliamentarian guns, but lost their commander. Historic England says they had the better of the encounter; Staffordshire's archive service calls it an inconclusive Royalist victory.

Who commanded at Hopton Heath?

Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, with Henry Hastings and Sir Thomas Byron, for the king; Sir John Gell and Sir William Brereton for Parliament.

How did the Earl of Northampton die?

His horse was shot under him among the enemy foot. According to Clarendon he refused quarter from such base rogues and rebels and was killed by a halberd blow to the head.

What was Roaring Meg?

The Royalists' one heavy gun at Hopton Heath, described as a demi-cannon or a 29-pounder. Its fire on the Parliamentarian centre helped prepare the cavalry charges.

Can you visit the Hopton Heath battlefield?

Yes. It is a registered battlefield, now farmland crossed by public footpaths, and the Battlefields Trust has run guided walks over it from the village of Salt.

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