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14th April 1471



The alliance between King Edward IV and the powerful Earl of Warwick was broken by 1469. Once Edward’s most loyal ally Warwick was now a bitter enemy. This break in allegiance was good news for the Lancastrian cause which grumbled on despite Henry VI being imprisoned in the Tower and most of the principals being in exile abroad. A resurgence of Lancastrian activity over the course of the next year resulted in Warwick driving Edward from England in October 1470 and restoring Henry to the throne. In March 1471 Edward returned to England, with the assistance of his brother-in-law the Duke of Burgundy. Landing in Yorkshire Edward assembled troops and equipment and headed south, gathering more troops as he went. Edward reached London unopposed on 12 April. Aware of Edward’s movements, the Earl of Warwick, who had been in the Midlands raising troops, marched towards London to confront him. With a Lancastrian army of some 15,000 troops he took up position about a mile north of Barnet on 13 April. Edward arrived that evening with a force of between 10,000 - 12,000 troops and took up position to the south of the Lancastrians. In spite of the dark Edward chose to deploy his troops on arrival rather than wait for the morning. Whether by accident or design he deployed very close to Warwick’s lines, down in a marshy valley, instructing his men to light no fires and keep silent. The Yorkist proximity to the Lancastrians proved fortuitous as the artillery bombardment that Warwick now launched passed over the heads of Edward’s troops. The scene was now set for a major confrontation between Edward and his erstwhile ally, the Earl of Warwick. This battle at Barnet did not resolve the Wars of the Roses but it was nethertheless of enormous significance. Edward IV secured a resounding victory and in doing so had despatched the second most powerful man in the kingdom, the Earl of Warwick.



The exact location of the battlefield is in dispute. We have suggested here a new conjectural interpretation of the location of the battle, some distanc to the north of the Registered battlefield. This is based on a re-examination of the evidence for the historic terrain, of the battle accounts, and the important research by Brian Warren as to the site of the battle chapel. This has returned the battle to the site where from at least the early 17th century throug to the 19th century it has been depicted on maps - ie the traditional site. Within this area there is little development although suburban expansion is encroaching in the eastern and southern sides. Much of this land was within Enfield Chase in 1471 and would have been open heath and common at the time of the battle. Today it si fully enclosed agricultural land and parkland. There are no public footpaths across the battlefield but the A1000, which runs across the battlefield, is safe to walk and offers the best views. A short distance north of the monument on the A1000 there is a track running east towards the Monken Mead brook, down which it is possible to walk and gain a view closer to the heart of the battlefield and particularly the marshy valley from which EWdward's army probably launched its attack. The Battlefields Trust, in collaboration with Brian Warren and others, is developing a project to investigate the battlefield, to refine and test the new hypothesis as to the location of the battle. KEY FACTS Name: Battle of Barnet Type: Battle

Campaign: War period: Wars of the Roses

Outcome: Yorkist victory

Country: England

County: Hertfordshire / Greater London Authority

Place: South Mimms / Enfield / Monken Hadley

Location: secure Terrain: open heath/common

Date: 14th April 1471

Start: 5am

Duration: 4 hours Armies: Yorkist under King Edward IV; Lancastrians under Earl of Warwick

Numbers: Yorkist: circa 10,000; Lancastrians: circa 15,000 Losses: "Casualties at Barnet reflected the evenness of the battle. Wesel thought 1500 fell on both sides. Commynes gave the same figure for the Yorkists, more among the defeated Lancastrians. These neutral estimates fall between John Paston's 1000 'of both parties' and Warkworth's 4000."

Quoted from Cassell's Battlefields of Britain & Ireland, Richard Brooks, Weidenfeld & Nicholson 2005 Grid Reference: TQ245975 (524566,197567)

OS Landranger map: 166

OS Explorer map: 173 English Heritage Battlefields Register report CLICK HERE