Battle of Halidon Hill 1333
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary. Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1333 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Wars of Scottish Independence | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 55.7875, -2.0500 | Wikidata P625 |
| Official record | Historic England list entry 1000012 | OGL v3 |
| Registered area | 313.7 ha | OGL v3 |
About the battle
The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England (r. 1327–1377) and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized the Scottish Crown from five-year-old David II (r. 1329–1371), surreptitiously supported by Edward III. This marked the start of the Second War of Scottish Independence. Balliol was shortly expelled from Scotland by a popular uprising, which Edward III used as a casus belli, invading Scotland in 1333. The immediate target was the strategically-important border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which the English besieged in March.
A large Scottish army advanced to relieve the town. They attempted and failed to draw the English away from Berwick. By mid-July, knowing Berwick was on the verge of surrender and aware they were much stronger than the English, the Scots attacked. They unsuccessfully manoeuvred for position and then launched an assault on the English, who had taken up a favourable defensive position. English longbowmen caused heavy Scottish casualties during their approach, and when the Scots came into contact with the English infantry, the fight was short. The Scottish formations collapsed and the Scots fled in disorder.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Halidon Hill (revision 1376845321), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Battlefield boundary © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See also this battlefield on Battlefields of Britain.
Nearby battles
- Sack of Berwick (1296) 1296 · 3 km
- Siege of Berwick (1333) 1333 · 3 km
- English invasion of Scotland (1482) 1482 · 4 km
- Siege of Berwick (1318) 1318 · 4 km
- Battle of Nesbit Moor (1402) 1402 · 16 km
- Battle of Skaithmuir 1316 · 17 km
Other battles of the Wars of Scottish Independence
- Battle of Inverurie (1308) 1308
- Battle of the Pass of Brander 1308
- Battle of Bannockburn 1314
- Capture of Roxburgh (1314) 1314
- Battle of Annan 1332
- Battle of Culblean 1335
All 14 battles of the Wars of Scottish Independence →
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