When considering community engagement at historic battlefields, there are no clear-cut, easily definable parameters as to who or which entities could be considered the sole ‘community’ at this kind of heritage site. One of the key reasons for this is that many battlefields do not have easily defined boundaries, resulting in confusion not only over who is responsible for their care and management but also over who values unidentified, and sometimes misidentified, spaces. Compounded by the fact that these are often empty fields devoid of even cursory manifestations of memorialisation, one could conclude that these are forgotten sites buried under the vestige of a lost past.

That being said, there are several distinct groups who have claimed a stake in the present and future management of battlefields, including, but not limited to: landowner(s), tourists, local residents, academics, non-profits and non-governmental organisations and government at the local, regional and national level. Each of these groups, or any conceivable combination of them, may be loosely defined as a ‘community’. Indeed, some have joined forces in the UK, such as Glasgow University's Centre for Battlefield Archaeology, which provides research for Historic Scotland's Inventory of Historic Battlefields since 2011.

It is important to note that scholars in archaeology and history have had a profound and pervading influence on how political and civil service authorities have written legislation and considered battlefields in the planning process (Sikora 2013, 201–7). Their research and advice has largely been concerned with the importance of the archaeological record and the potential for the recovery of artefacts associated with a battle. Since the precise location of the vast majority of battlefields in the UK are unknown, and cannot therefore be delineated on a map, only non-statutory legislation has been granted in both England and Scotland (English Heritage 2010; Historic Scotland 2011a).

Even so, there have been numerous efforts to protect and interpret these heritage resources. One such collaboration has developed between the government-sponsored charity English Heritage1 and the Battlefields Trust, a non-profit body concerned with the preservation and interpretation of historic battlefields in the UK. English Heritage aids the Battlefields Trust by providing the funding to secure a Development Officer, their only paid employee among a team of volunteers.