Battle of Neville's Cross 1346
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary. Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1346 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Hundred Years' War, Second War of Scottish Independence | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 54.7725, -1.5933 | Wikidata P625 |
| Official record | Historic England list entry 1000024 | OGL v3 |
| Registered area | 39.3 ha | OGL v3 |
About the battle
The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham, England. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King David II was defeated with heavy loss by an English army of approximately 6,000–7,000 men led by Ralph Neville, Lord Neville. The battle was named after an Anglo-Saxon stone cross that stood on the hill where the Scots made their stand. After the victory, Neville paid to have a new cross erected to commemorate the day.
The battle was the result of the invasion of France by England during the Hundred Years' War. King Philip VI of France (r. 1328–1350) called on the Scots to fulfil their obligation under the terms of the Auld Alliance and invade England. David II obliged, and after ravaging much of northern England was taken by surprise by the English defenders. The ensuing battle ended with the rout of the Scots, the capture of their king and the death or capture of most of their leadership. Strategically, this freed significant English resources for the war against France, and the English border counties were able to guard against the remaining Scottish threat from their own resources.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Neville's Cross (revision 1380795613), 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
- Siege of Durham (1006) 1006 · 1 km
- Battle of Boldon Hill 1644 · 22 km
- Siege of Newcastle 1644 · 23 km
- Battle of Newburn 1640 · 26 km
- Battle of Piercebridge 1642 · 27 km
- Weardale campaign 1327 · 33 km
Other battles of the Hundred Years' War
- Battle of Saint-Omer 1340
- Battle of Sluys 1340
- Siege of Tournai (1340) 1340
- Battle of Auberoche 1345
- Battle of Bergerac 1345
- Battle of Blanchetaque 1346
- Battle of Caen (1346) 1346
- Battle of Crécy 1346
- Siege of Aiguillon 1346
- Siege of Calais (1346–1347) 1346
All 63 battles of the Hundred Years' War →
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