The Battlefields Trust

What The Battlefields Trust does

The Battlefields Trust is a UK-registered charity and company limited by guarantee (Charity No: 1017387; Company No: 2786730) dedicated to the protection, promotion, and interpretation of Britain's historic battlefields. It is volunteer-run with no paid staff explicitly identified, organized into 12 regional groups covering all of Britain and supported by a Board of Trustees. Its operational roles include a Director of Operations and Membership Officer (David Austin) plus regional chairs and coordinators across regions such as South East, Mercia, East Anglia, North, Wessex, Yorkshire, and the South West.

The Trust's core products center on the Battlefields Hub, an online resource center covering Britain's battlefields, accompanied by Battlefield Education Packs (Otterburn, Carham, Shrewsbury, Stoke Field, Newburn Ford, Edgehill, Worcester), two crowd-sourced memorial databases (British Civil Wars and Wars of the Roses), a quarterly magazine, and the annual Battalia journal (Volumes I-IV, 2017-2026). Digital infrastructure consists of the battlefieldstrust.com website, social media (Twitter @battleftrust), and email communications via MailChimp. The Trust also publishes policy documents for heritage professionals recognized by Natural England and other planning authorities.

The business model is a subscription-and-donation charity revenue model. Members pay annual subscriptions ranging from £30 (student) to £55 (family), with a standing order discount; life memberships are priced between £300 (senior individual) and £600 (senior family). Additional revenue includes voluntary donations and a one-off £12 gift membership. Customers include individual members, educational institutions, heritage and planning professionals, and battlefield landowners/researchers. Distribution is self-serve online plus a 12-region volunteer field network; there are no investors, funding rounds, or institutional ownership.

Name

The Battlefields Trust

Legal name

The Battlefields Trust

Website

https://battlefieldstrust.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Battlefields Trust is a UK volunteer-run registered charity dedicated to the preservation, research, and interpretation of Britain's historic battlefields. It serves individual members, schools, and heritage professionals through education packs, memorial databases, a quarterly magazine, and the Battalia journal.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Preservation Services

NAICS

Historical Sites (712120), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

Keywords

• Battlefield preservation
• Heritage conservation services
• Educational heritage resources
• Battlefield heritage advice
• Military history research

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Annual membership fees providing quarterly magazine, exclusive online talks, walks, conferences, and members-only access. Tiered pricing for individual, family, student, and life memberships.
2. Donations: Voluntary donations from members and supporters to support battlefield preservation efforts.
3. Gift Membership: One-off gift membership payment of £12 in addition to appropriate membership, sold as birthday presents.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Battlefields Trust is a volunteer-run registered charity that protects, promotes, and interprets Britain's battlefields by delivering education resources, campaigning and lobbying against destructive developments, providing guidance on battlefield protection to planners, landowners, and developers, and offering an online Battlefields Hub with a Battlefield Memorials database for researchers, educators, and members. Its primary deliverables are educational classroom packs (covering topics from the English Civil War to WWI and WWII), member publications such as the Battalia magazine/journal, and direct advocacy on planning decisions affecting historic battlefield sites.

Product overview

The Battlefields Trust operates primarily as an informational and educational platform offering the Battlefields Hub as its core product, which serves as a comprehensive resource center covering Britain's historic battlefields. Supporting this are Battlefield Education Packs for schools and youth groups, two memorial databases (British Civil Wars Memorial Database and Wars of the Roses Memorial Database), a quarterly Magazine/Journal (Battalia), and a Membership Program providing exclusive access to online lectures, walks, conferences, and member resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• National Trust: UK-wide conservation charity preserving historic places, landscapes, and natural heritage. Operates a paid membership model similar to the Trust and engages in land stewardship, though at a vastly larger scale and scope.
• English Heritage: The UK's largest operator of historic sites and monuments, managing over 400 heritage properties. Closest comparable organization in scope and mission for battlefield and medieval/early-modern heritage stewardship, though English Heritage operates visitor-facing properties rather than a distributed volunteer network.
• Historic England: The public body that funds and oversees heritage protection in England, including the Register of Battlefields on which the Trust depends. Functions as both a regulator and a resource creator, partially overlapping with the Trust's policy and investigation work.
• Historic Royal Palaces: Independent charity that manages unoccupied royal palaces. Comparable as a UK heritage charity with membership-based funding and educational programming, though its scope is visitor-facing palaces rather than outdoor battlefield sites.
• National Lottery Heritage Fund: The largest dedicated funder of heritage in the UK. While a grant-maker rather than a peer operator, it directly funds projects similar to those the Trust advocates for and shapes the funding landscape the Trust operates in.

Regional players

• National Trust for Scotland: Scotland's equivalent of the National Trust, conserving historic and cultural heritage. Comparable as a membership-based heritage conservation charity with educational programming, though focused on Scotland rather than competing directly in England/Wales.

Direct peers

• The Woodland Trust: The UK's largest woodland conservation charity, using a membership/subscription model with regional networks. Closely comparable in operating model (charity, individual members, regional groups, donations plus memberships) though focused on woodland rather than battlefield heritage.
• Council for British Archaeology: An independent UK-wide charity supporting archaeological research, education, and advocacy. Shares the Trust's heritage advocacy, educational resource, and member organization model, particularly in the archaeology of battlefield sites.
• Civic Trust: A heritage-focused charity advocating for the quality of the built and natural environment. Operates as a volunteer-and-membership-based advocacy organization with regulatory influence, paralleling the Trust's advocacy role for battlefield protection.
• Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings: Founded 1877, this is the UK's oldest building preservation charity and a direct analogue as a membership-driven heritage advocacy organization producing guidance and educational resources for conservation professionals.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/battleftrust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-battlefields-trust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Battlefields Trust