Defending Berwick

LOCAL wisdom has it that the town and castle of Berwick upon Tweed is the most fought over piece of land on earth save Jerusalem.  Once again the Plantagenet kings of England were interfering in Scottish affairs and trying to place their own pawn on the Scottish throne.

The Scots had disposed the puppet king, Edward Balliol, son of John Balliol.  Balliol’s back, King Edward III of England, who had moved north to put him back on the Scottish throne was considering an invasion of Scotland.  However Balliol and his English allies were investing Berwick and Edward decided to take command of the siege.

Lord Archibald Douglas lead a Scottish army to ravage Northumberland, hoping to draw the English away from Berwick.  Edward ignored this incursion and continued to besiege the town.  The Scottish governor had agreed to surrender Berwick if a relief force of at least 200 riders failed to enter it by sunset on July 19, 1333.

Edward now knew that he had to prevent reinforcements and supplies from reaching the town on the north bank of the River Tweed.  He positioned a large force on the commanding height of Halidon Hill to the north west of Berwick.

This move meant that the Scottish army jointly commanded by Bruce and Douglas had to make a frontal attack on the entrenched English force or give up all hope of relieving Berwick.  The water courses and boggy ground around the base of Halidon Hill negated any other choices.

Edward formed his force into three divisions or battles.  He took command of the central division with Balliol on his left and the Earl of Norfolk on his right.  Each division was formed by men-at-arms who were supported by longbowmen to their front and on both flanks.  Edward held a small mounted force in reserve to counter any Scottish bid to send a flying column towards Berwick during the battle.

Douglas led the Scottish army forward in three divisions on foot.  All three divisions were defeated by the combined tactics perfected by the English of using archers and dismounted men-at-arms in wedges.  The Scots were also exhausted by the trudge through the morasses followed by the slog up the steep hillside.

Eventually the Scots broke under the galling arrow fire and fled the field.  Douglas had kept back a force of 200 mounted men ready to make a dash to Berwick if the chance presented itself.  This unit, which had been shadowed all day by the larger English cavalry reserve, saw their main force break and then they fled the field.

The Scots had been unable to lift the siege of Berwick which was forced to capitulate the following day under the governor’s agreement with Edward.

As with many Anglo-Scottish battles, the Scottish casualties were horrendous while the English losses were small due to their extensive use of large bodies of skilled longbowmen.

However Edward III was unable to impose Balliol on the Scottish throne and Scotland was to remain an independent country until the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

The battlefield is now arable farmland as opposed to the Medieval moorland that was fought over.  It is signposted from the A6105 road to a car park with interpretational panels and a viewpoint.  There is no public access to the top of Halidon Hill where Edward established his command post or to the monument which commemorates the battle.                   

The castle itself was demolished by the Victorians to make way for the railway and Berwick Station