News

HS2 damages nationally important battlefield

18 September 2025

HS2 has stripped topsoil where artefacts from the nationally important 1469 battle of Edgcote might have been present without first checking with an archaeologically supervised metal detecting survey.

The topsoil was stripped to allow excess earth removed from the construction of the new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham to be temporarily stored on the battlefield. This is one of three sites that HS2 is now using for that purpose.   

HS2 did ask West Northamptonshire Council whether an environmental impact assessment to identify any necessary mitigations was needed before it began work. In a letter, Hayley James, an Inspector for Ancient Monuments for Historic England noted that whilst the effects of the work would not be environmentally significant ‘there [was] still potential for harm to the designated battlefield, both in terms of direct impact to archaeological remains and indirect impact to the setting of the battlefield’. 

However. in March 2025, West Northamptonshire Council determined that the proposed work by HS2 was not expected to have significant adverse environmental effects and said that HS2 did not need to undertake an environmental assessment. HS2 has since started to store earth on the battlefield using its permitted development rights under existing planning law.

The Battlefields Trust, and the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society have raised concerns about the HS2 work. The Battlefields Trust approached HS2 and the planning archaeologist for West Northamptonshire Council highlighting the failure to conduct a metal detecting survey in advance of work and the problems this caused. HS2 has subsequently agreed to undertake a survey once the topsoil has been returned to its original location. But both battlefield organisations remain unhappy.

Graham Evans, Chair of the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society said ‘This is heart-breaking for anyone who cares about the county’s heritage. The Edgcote battlefield was one of the best–preserved Registered Battlefields in the country. It was used for arable farming at the time of the battle in 1469, it is still being used in that way now’.

'The shape of the landscape is crucial to understanding how the battle was fought. HS2 are telling us that the earth could be stored there for up to three years, seriously detracting from an appreciation of the battlefield. They won’t be able to return it to its past state. You can’t put the archaeology back once you’ve scrapped it up and dumped it in a heap'. 

Battlefields Trust Research Coordinator Simon Marsh said ‘the proposed after the event mitigation is too little too late. The key to battlefield archaeology is understanding the distribution of surviving artefacts in the landscape, but the stripping of topsoil over 11.7 hectares, an area equivalent to the size of more than 16 Premier League football pitches, means that the original distribution can never be recovered’.  

‘it seems to be a further example of how grey areas in the planning system around permitted development and environmental impact assessments can directly impact Registered Battlefields’.

‘as this case shows, a failure to understand the nature of conflict archaeology and the landscape value of the heritage can result in the destruction of parts of our nationally important battlefields, which make up only around 0.01 percent of the rural England’.

‘This year marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the Register of Historic Battlefields and the government needs to ensure developers and planning authorities are better informed and listen to advice when it is offered. Better protections are needed for Registered Battlefields, particularly in permitted development cases, to ensure their archaeology and landscapes are properly conserved’.   

The battle of Edgcote was fought on 24 July 1469 during the Wars of the Roses between a royal army loyal to King Edward IV led by the Earl of Pembroke and a rebel force indirectly supporting the Earl of Warwick, “the Kingmaker”, who was seeking to assert his authority over the young king. The rebel army was victorious after rebel reinforcements arrived.