Parliamentarian forces defeated a Royalist army outside Chester at the Battle of Rowton Heath on 24 September 1645, ending Charles I’s attempt to relieve the besieged city.

The King had come to Chester after learning that Parliamentarian forces were threatening one of the Royalists’ remaining important strongholds. Charles entered the city on 23 September with a small force, while several thousand Royalist cavalry under Sir Marmaduke Langdale remained outside.

Charles believed that Parliamentarian cavalry under Sydenham Poyntz was no longer close behind him. Poyntz was in fact only a short distance away. Early on 24 September his force encountered Langdale’s cavalry south-east of Chester.

The Royalists initially drove Poyntz’s men back. Parliamentarian troops involved in the siege of Chester sent reinforcements, allowing Poyntz to renew the attack. The fighting moved towards Rowton Heath as the Royalists were forced closer to the city.

Further Royalist troops came out from Chester but could not reverse the position. The Royalist cavalry was defeated, with large numbers killed or taken prisoner. Charles watched part of the fighting from Chester’s walls.

The defeat left Charles unable to relieve the city. He left Chester during the night of 24 September. Coming three months after the Royalist defeat at Naseby, Rowton Heath further reduced the King’s ability to maintain an effective field army.