A Parliamentary army under the command of Thomas Fairfax confronted Royal troops led by King Charles but commanded in the field by the king's nephew, Prince Rupert. At first the royal army had the upper hand, but Fairfax's cavalry, headed by one Oliver Cromwell, swung the tide of battle, and the royalists were routed. Parliament's total victory at Naseby effectively ended the Civil War, though the king dragged matters out until 1646. As a curious side-note, the parish register at Naseby makes no mention at all of the great battle which bears its name. Today the battlefield can best be approached via the Sibbertoft road, where a Battlefield Monument marks the spot where Cromwell's cavalry began the engagement.
Interpretive panels outline the course of the battle.
A second monument stands on the Clipston road on the northern approaches to the village, with yet another interpretive panel explaining the battle and its consequences. Naseby was a thriving market town in the early Middle Ages, with a market charter granted by King John in 1203. However, the Black Death of 1349 took a terrible toll on the town, and the population dwindled dramatically. Nearby fields still show traces of abandoned buildings from this period. But pride of place must go to Naseby house, built in 1818 for the Fitzgeralds, Lords of the Manor.