News

Battle of Winwick Society start work on a battlefield monument

1 April 2026

The Battle of Winwick Society has started work to establish a battlefield monument at Winwick, a battle fought in August 1648 which saw the last stand of an invading Scottish Engager army which had been defeated at Preston a few days earlier.

The area chosen for the monument is a designated village green at Hermitage Green owned by the Winwick Parish Council. Located on Golborne Road, the village green is on high ground that overlooks the battlefield.

An obelisk style monument is planned with information boards and bench seating set on a paved area with tree planting and wildflower areas adjacent. To represent both armies, it is intended that an English oak and a Scots pine tree be planted as key features.

In late September 2025, following a public consultation, Winwick Parish Council approved the erection of a battle of Winwick Monument on its land at Hermitage Green. It also agreed to take ownership of the monument and its upkeep once it had been installed.

A project group, chaired by Battle of Winwick Society member Richard Ward, who has campaigned for a monument for over a decade, has been established. Several Society members, including Paul Beckmann, a landscape architect leading on design, procurement and installation of the monument, Sam Armstrong, Peter Beck and Sarah Heal are also involved.  Winwick Parish Council is represented by Cllr James Herron and the Battlefields Trust, which joined the project in January this year, by Gregg Archer.

Initial work commenced in January when consultants carried out a topographical survey of the village green where the monument is to be located and checked for utility services which could be affected by the monument. With some minor adjustments, this confirmed the monument would be viable in the proposed location.

Efforts to finalise the design and to create a costed schedule of works is currently progressing well with planning consent to be sought soon.

Once detailed costs have been calculated, the project group will start to work on fundraising. As well as looking for public donations, grant funding opportunities will be pursued, and the project will seek to run other fundraising events.

Paul Wright, Chair of the Winwick Battlefield Society, said ‘this is an exciting project. It’s been a long time since a monument of this scale was installed on a Civil War battlefield and there is no better location than Winwick, the best preserved battlefield of the second Civil War’.

For more information about the battle of Winwick see: The Battlefields Hub → The Civil Wars → Preston Campaign 1648 → The Battle of Battle of Winwick

For more information about the Battle of Winwick Society see: Battle of Winwick 1648