Thanks for your replies everyone. I am pretty sure it wasn't a purple emperor - it was predominantly orange and brown. The valensina looks the most like it in the photograph, although I can't find any other info on this - what is a valensina?

Hi, I saw an absolutely beautiful butterfly in the Forest of Dean this weekend which was quite large (larger then the red admiral I saw just before) and seemed to have the markings of a fritillary. It was distinct however in that it had very purple colour on the top side of its lower wing. I do not ...