Battle of Hopton Heath - 1643

Battle of Hopton Heath - 1643

Royalists: Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton

Parliamentarians: Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet: Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet

Result: both sides claimed victory

Location: Hopton Heath

The Battle of Hopton Heath, was a battle of the First English Civil War, fought on Sunday 19 March 1643 between Parliamentarian forces led by Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet and Sir William Brereton and a Royalist force under Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton. The battle ended at nightfall, the victory remaining a matter of opinion: the fact that the Parliamentarian Foot was still in position at nightfall when, as the Royalists themselves admitted, they drew back a little or the fact that next morning the Royalists occupied the field after the Parliamentarians retreated in the night. The Royalists had captured eight guns, but the Parliamentarians considered their killing of the enemy commander, the Earl of Northampton, of equal significance.