News

New battle of Nibley Green information board unveiled

5 May 2025

A new information board about the battle of Nibley Green, fought during the period known as the Wars of the Roses, has been unveiled in North Nibley.

The board was sponsored by the Battlefields Trust and North Nibley Parish Council. A generous grant from the Tewkesbury Battlefield Society helped cover some of the costs.

The information board was unveiled by Charles Berkeley of Berkeley Castle, whose ancestor was victorious in the battle, along with Roland Brown, the chair of the Parish Council, and Simon Marsh from the Battlefields Trust. Priest in charge at St Martin’s church North Nibley, Lesley Hewish, blessed the board and prayed for the dead from the battle and other conflicts with the 40 people attending the ceremony.

Simon Marsh said ‘the Battlefields Trust is delighted to be involved in the installation of this information board which will hopefully provide local people and visitors to this beautiful part of Gloucestershire with an understanding of the little–known battle that was fought here.’

He added, ‘the Trust is grateful to North Nibley Parish Council for its support in getting the board installed, to Tewkesbury Battlefield Society for helping with the funding, and Charles Berkeley for performing the unveiling.’

The ceremony was preceded by a well–attended walk of the battlefield led by local historian Adam Dolling, who explained the background to the battle and what happened during the fighting 555 years ago.  Adam's walks of the battlefield in previous years had raised the balance of the cost of the information board.

The battle of Nibley Green was fought on 20 March 1470 between Lord William Berkeley and Thomas Talbot Viscount Lisle to settle a long running inheritance dispute. The cause of the conflict and the involvement of retainers and tenants belonging to both men, made it a ‘private’ battle which has been said to be the last of that kind fought on English soil.