Registered as a nationally important site
The Battle of Langport has been listed by English Heritage as one of 47 important English battlefields. The purpose of registration is “to offer them protection and to promote a better understanding of their significance”. Local planning authorities are obliged to take in to account the historic interest of the site when considering any planning applications that might affect it.
You can find more about registered battlefields on the Historic England website.
The Battlefield's location
According to the Battlefields Trust: “The site of the ‘pass’ where the battle was fought is disputed, as there were three roads or lanes which crossed the Wagg Rhyne but the parliamentarian forces fought their way along just one of these. The first location, championed by Burne, is at the south where the A372 Langport to Long Sutton road now crossed the Wagg Rhyne by a small bridge; secondly, that supported by English Heritage, is at the north where the B3153 Langport to Somerton road, also now bridged, crossed the Rhyne; finally, there is a third, central crossing which today is no longer a hedged lane, just a public footpath. Further research on both the historic terrain and the battle archaeology is essential if the location of the pass and thus the battle is to be securely defined.”
The battle icon on the OS map indicates the first location mentioned above. The registered battlefield, however, centres on the Langport to Somerton road, as is shown in the Battlefields Trust’s terrain map, which they have kindly allowed us to reproduce:
