Atlas of Battles

battle, major, medieval

Battle of Tewkesbury

Battle of Tewkesbury was a battle fought on 4 May 1471 at Tewkesbury, in what is now United Kingdom. It was part of the Wars of the Roses, which ran from 1455 to 1487. The recorded result: Yorkist victory.

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Image for battles of the Wars of the Roses where York was victorious.
Image for battles of the Wars of the Roses where York was victorious.. Sodacan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought4 May 1471
WhereTewkesbury, United Kingdom51.986N, 2.161W
OutcomeYorkist victory
BelligerentsHouse of YorkagainstHouse of Lancaster
Battlefield todayBattle of Tewkesbury battlefieldHistoric England entry 1000039, 148 ha
Part ofWars of the Roses1455 to 1487

Where it sits in the Wars of the Roses

First Battle of St Albans, 1455Battle of Blore Heath, 1459Battle of Ludford Bridge, 1459Battle of Sandwich (1460), 1459Battle of Northampton, 1460Battle of Worksop, 1460Battle of Wakefield, 1460Battle of Mortimer's Cross, 1461Second Battle of St Albans, 1461Battle of Ferrybridge, 1461Battle of Towton, 1461Battle of Tuthill, 1461Battle of Piltown, 1462Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 1464Battle of Hexham, 1464Battle of Edgcote, 1469Battle of Losecoat Field, 1470Battle of Barnet, 1471Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471Siege of London (1471), 1471Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485Battle of Stoke Field, 148714551487Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471
22 placed engagements of the Wars of the Roses in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date4 May 1471
PlaceTewkesbury, United Kingdom
51.986N, 2.161W
KindBattle, medieval
Commanders
  • Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
  • Edmund Beaufort (died 1471)
  • John Courtenay, 15th Earl of Devon
  • John Wenlock, 1st Baron Wenlock
Battle of TewkesburyBattle of Tewkesbury5 km51.986N, 2.161W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. The dashed outline is the registered battlefield area (Historic England). Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Tewkesbury
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Tewkesbury today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-06-19. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 19 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 63 m, 63 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 46% grassland, 29% cropland, 13% tree cover.

grassland: 46%cropland: 29%tree cover: 13%built-up: 10%grassland 46%cropland 29%tree cover 13%built-up 10%
west to east, 10.0 km6 to 34 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 30 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1471

Historic England registers this as the Battle of Tewkesbury battlefield (entry 1000039), 148 hectares, under the Open Government Licence.

Battle of Tewkesbury is one of 720 engagements of the 15th century in the atlas and one of 695 in present-day United Kingdom.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1337059, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Tewkesbury, revision 1370275402, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Battlefield boundary and area from Historic England (Open Government Licence). Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.