Atlas of Battles

battle, major, early modern

Battle of Worcester

Battle of Worcester was a battle fought on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, in what is now United Kingdom. It was part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which ran from 1638 to 1651. The recorded result: Decisive Parliamentarian victory. Recorded strength: 28,000 against 16,000.

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Painting of Oliver Cromwell and his officers at the Battle of Worcester (3 September 1651).
Painting of Oliver Cromwell and his officers at the Battle of Worcester (3 September 1651).. English School, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought3 September 1651
WhereWorcester, United Kingdom52.189N, 2.221W
OutcomeDecisive Parliamentarian victory
BelligerentsParliamentariansagainstRoyalists
Casualties and losses700 killedand3,000 killed; 10,000 captured
Part ofWars of the Three Kingdoms1638 to 1651

Where it sits in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms

Battle of Tippermuir, 1644Battle of Aberdeen, 1644Battle of Inverlochy, 1645Battle of Auldearn, 1645Battle of Alford, 1645Battle of Kilsyth, 1645Battle of Philiphaugh, 1645Battle of Annan Moor, 1645Battle of Lagganmore, 1646Battle of Aberdeen, 1646Battle of Rhunahaorine Moss, 1647Battle of Mauchline Muir, 1648Battle of Stirling, 1648Siege of Dublin, 1649Battle of Carbisdale, 1650Battle of Dunbar, 1650Battle of Inverkeithing, 1651Battle of Worcester, 1651Battle of Dalnaspidal, 1654Battle of the Severn, 165516441655Battle of Worcester, 1651
20 placed engagements of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date3 September 1651
PlaceWorcester, United Kingdom
52.189N, 2.221W
KindBattle, early modern
Strength28,00016,000
Casualties and losses700 killed3,000 killed; 10,000 captured
Commanders
Battle of WorcesterBattle of WorcesterSiege of WorcesterSiege of WorcesterBattle of Powick BridgeBattle of UptonBattle of Ripple FieldBattle of UptonBirminghamCardiffNottinghamStokeLutonOxfordPeterboroughBath100 km52.189N, 2.221W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Worcester
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Worcester today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-06-19. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 40 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 7 to 100 m, 93 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 37% built-up, 31% tree cover, 24% grassland.

built-up: 37%tree cover: 31%grassland: 24%cropland: 8%built-up 37%tree cover 31%grassland 24%cropland 8%
west to east, 10.0 km8 to 89 mnorth to south, 10.0 km8 to 41 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 4 times between 1642 and 1651.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1651

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: ENG PARL ARMYDefender: SCOT ROY ARMY
Strength28,00016,000
Casualties1,000 (3.6%)9,000 (56.2%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1094
Outcomeattacker won
Duration1 day
Front width5.6 km5.6 km
Attacker advanced2 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 28), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Worcester is one of 1,553 engagements of the 17th century in the atlas and one of 753 in present-day United Kingdom.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1116626, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Worcester, revision 1374568082, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.