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Location
Berwick-Upon-Tweed
The Setting
The Sandal Magna Connection
The Siege
The Battle
| Halidon Hill lies about two miles west of the centre of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, its summit reaching 600 feet. Its name, Hali-dun indicates it had an earlier purpose as a fortified hill top. From here are excellent views to the north and south along the strategic coastal route between England and Scotland. At the time of the battle the lower slopes were deceptively marshy and with Edward III's strategic use of longbow-men and the advantage of elevation, helped to demolish the Scottish army. |
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THE SETTING
Robert de Bruce of Scotland had died. Edward de Balliol, son of
John Balliol, laid claim to the Scottish throne but because Balliol had
relinquished southern Scotland to England he was not popular in Scotland.
He revolted against David II but lost and escaped to England, whilst the
youthful David II of Scotland was accepted by the Scottish parliament as
king.
John Balliol, Edward's father had been supported against de Bruce
by Edward II and now Edward Balliol was supported by Edward III.
THE SANDAL MAGNA CONNECTION
The castle at Sandal Magna the seat of the Wakefield Manor, had
been rebuilt in 1320 by the 6th Earl Warrene, probably to secure
the district from the Scots who had penetrated as far south as Bradford
between 1311 and 1316.
There was a disastrous Scottish incursion into the West Riding of
Yorkshire in 1332 following Balliol's defeat.
Balliol now repaired to Sandal Castle, the seat of John 6th
Earl of Warrene. He stayed here whilst an army was assembled for an attack
on Berwick.
[It may be that at this time Sir William de Midgley joined the army
heading northwards]
Balliol is described as a "puppet king" or a "vassal" of Edward
III by the Scots. For Edward he was a suitable regent to take control should
Edward succeeed against the invaders.
Balliol travelled north with a division of the English army to besiege
Berwick, joined by Edward III in May 1333. Edward III arrived in
Durham on the 1st April 1333 to stay at St. Cuthbert's Priory, whilst Queen
Philippa, as
Froissart, the Queen's Chronicler records3, stayed nearby
at Durham Castle. On the 12th April 1333 Edward III assembled his part
of the English army at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, then travelled with Queen Philippa
to Bamburgh castle in Northumberland, where Philippa resided for the duration
of the Seige of Berwick.
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THE SEIGE
OF BERWICK
Seige was laid to Berwick and its walls which was held by the Scots,
using a variety of seige engines and perhaps some primitive hand canons
which were beginning to make their appearance. By the middle of May Berwick
was still holding out so Edward III sent an army into the Berwick hinterland
to burn and pillage. A ship attack was tried from the sea which was unsuccessful,
as a result the town was blockaded from the sea.
A truce was made beween Edward III and the governor of the castle
and an exchange of hostages took place. Edward had the governor's eldest
and youngest sons held hostage and then hanged outside the walls of Berwick
when the governor refused to surrender.
By the 15th of July Berwick was running out of food. The governor
intended to give in by the 20th July unless relieved by "The Grim" Sir
Archibald Douglas's army [The guardian and regent for David II]. Douglas
had tried harrying the English army and then changed tactics and harried
Northumberland and even threatened Bamburgh Castle where Queen Philippa
was staying, but Edward III was not drawn by this decoy, knowing that Bamburgh
was a secure bastion against Scottish foot-men. In frustration Douglas
turned his 13,000 strong army back towards Berwick where Edward III had
strategically placed his army high on Hali-dun Hill, whilst a contingent
of Edward's army were left to beseige the starving town.
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THE BATTLE
Edward
III at the age of 20 years and 8 months led his first major battle at Halidon.
He had three dismounted divisions totalling 10,000, each flanked and probably
led by archers. The left flank division was led by Edward de Balliol, the
right flank division by The Earl of Norfolk and the cenre division by Edward
III.
The English army had the advantage of elevation. The archers fired
volleys of arrows downhill at the huge 14,700 strong Scottish horde swarming
towards them, which struggled to extricate itself from marshy ground at
the foot of the hill. The Scottish spearmen were no match for the longbow
men, who were picked off with sickening rapidity. Once the archers had
subdued the advance of the Scottish army, the English knights mounted and
charged the remaining attackers with sword, mace and lance to completely
rout the Scots. 
Four thousand Scots lay dead along with Sir Archibald Douglas, Sir
Adam Gordon of Berwickshire, 6 Scottish earls, 70 Scottish barons, 500
knights and many spearmen. The English had a loss of 14 men. The longbow
of South Wales had, as in the time of Edward I, decimated the Scottish
and was later to be used with such devastating results at Crecy, Poitiers
and even later, Agincourt.
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In
the early 1300's Berwick was a busy trading town and port between England,
Scotland and the North Sea. It strategically controlled the coastal route
to Edinburgh. Wool weaving was becoming an important industry and Berwick's
hinterland, the Tweed river valley, especially "The Merse", was a rich
productive agricultural area growing wheat as well as barley for the Scottish
invasion machine.