News

Battlefields at risk - Historic England publishes its revised Heritage at Risk register

6 November 2025

Three historic battlefields remain on Historic England’s 2025 report on Heritage at Risk. 

The report, released on 6 November, revealed that the medieval battlefield at Boroughbridge (1322), Bishops War battlefield at Newburn Ford (1640), and Civil War battlefield at Adwalton Moor (1643) were all at risk from development pressures.

Historic England, working with local planning authorities, landowners and other organisations, has managed to remove other battlefields at first Newbury (1643), Braddock Down (1643) and Stamford Bridge (1066) from the Heritage at Risk register over the last twelve years.

The three battlefields remaining on the risk register have been there since before 2013. In its most recent report Historic England described all of them as being in a ‘generally satisfactory [condition] but with significant localised problems’, indicating no change over the least two years.

Actions and strategies to better manage the problems the battlefields face have been identified, but none have yet been fully implemented. 

No information seems to have been reported by Historic England on future planned actions to address the risks facing these battlefields.

The Battlefields Trust continues to engage with Historic England on battlefield issues and has offered assistance on Heritage at Risk battlefields if Historic England judge there are things the Trust can do to help.