On 20 March 1470, Viscount Lisle and Baron Berkeley settled their long-running land dispute the medieval way — with a pitched battle. Around 1,300 men fought at Nibley Green — Berkeley fielded about 1,000 and Lisle about 300, between Wotton-under-Edge and North Nibley. Lord Lisle was killed, shot through the face with an arrow, and his body was stripped and left on the field. The battle is considered the last private battle fought in England. A monument on the hillside above North Nibley, the Tyndale Monument, commemorates not the battle but William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English and is believed to have been born nearby.
“Lord Lisle was killed, shot through the face with an arrow, and his body was stripped and left on the field.”
