Can't answer the question about english longbow style, but i sometimes shoot without an arrowrest.
What i did, was add an arrow-PASS to the bow, so that i could shoot with consistency. I made 2 bows like this, actually, but i made a big mistake with one of them: I drilled too deeply into a SLIGHTLY bendy-handled bow. It was my son's bow. When he shot up 6 inches and his arms got longer, the drew the thing to his chin and it broke. LOL
nobody got hurt...
but you could...
you could also just indicate a spot in some other way. For example, my yew holmegaard (wherever it is!) had a knot in a place in the handle, where i was able to clean it out, fill it with epoxy, and use it as an arrow-pass...
wear thin gloves...