The capture of Berwick in 1318 — the most important town in Scotland, seized by Edward I and held for twenty-two years — was a major achievement for Bruce. The town was taken by night: a Flemish merchant named Spalding, sympathetic to Scotland, helped lower ropes from the walls. The garrison was overwhelmed. Only the castle held out briefly before surrendering. The recovery of Berwick gave Scotland its greatest commercial port and signalled that English control of the border was slipping. Bruce immediately began refortifying the town against English recovery attempts.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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