Battle of Solway Moss 1542
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary. Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1542 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | England | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Anglo-Scottish Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 55.0112, -3.0257 | Wikidata P625 |
| Official record | Historic England list entry 1000034 | OGL v3 |
| Registered area | 345.8 ha | OGL v3 |
About the battle
The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces.
The Scottish King James V had refused to break from the Catholic Church, as urged by his uncle King Henry VIII, who then launched a major raid into south-west Scotland. The Scottish army that marched against them was poorly led and organised, and many Scots were either captured or drowned in the river. News of the defeat is believed to have hastened the early death of James V.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Solway Moss (revision 1379342428), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; 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
- Battle of Sark 1448 · 4 km
- Battle of Arfderydd 573 · 7 km
- Battle of Dornock 1333 · 12 km
- Battle of Annan 1332 · 14 km
- Battle of Annan Moor 1645 · 14 km
- Siege of Carlisle (1644) 1644 · 14 km
Other battles of the Anglo-Scottish Wars
- Battle of Nesbit Moor (1402) 1402
- Battle of Yeavering 1415
- Battle of Piperdean 1436
- Battle of Sark 1448
- English invasion of Scotland (1482) 1482
- Battle of Haddon Rig 1542
- Battle of Ancrum Moor 1545
- Battle of Pinkie 1547
- Battle of Drumlanrig 1548
- Siege of Haddington 1548
All 16 battles of the Anglo-Scottish Wars →
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