BattlefieldsEnglish raid on the Borders — Kelso burned 1523
Tudor

English raid on the Borders — Kelso burned 1523

1523
Roxburghshire, Scotland
Also known as: Surrey burns Kelso and Jedburgh 1523
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Roxburghshire, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Scottish Border towns
Forces
Border Scottish defence
VS
Victor
England (Surrey)
Forces
English force c.5,000 under Surrey
Outcome
Surrey burned Kelso, Jedburgh, Selkirk and several abbeys in a major retaliatory raid
The Battle

History & Significance

Surrey's 1523 raid was one of the most destructive English incursions into the Borders before the Rough Wooing. Kelso Abbey — the largest and richest abbey on the Scottish Borders — was ransacked and burned. Jedburgh, Dryburgh and other settlements were razed. The raid was part of the endemic Anglo-Scottish warfare of the post-Flodden decade when England repeatedly exploited Scottish weakness. The burning of the Border abbeys left scars on the Scottish ecclesiastical landscape that were never fully repaired.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around Roxburghshire

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.

Research a location near Roxburghshire