BattlefieldsRedesdale Reiver Operations — Persistent Raiding 1520s-1540s
Tudor

Redesdale Reiver Operations — Persistent Raiding 1520s-1540s

1530
Northumberland, England
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Northumberland, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Scottish and warden forces
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Redesdale reivers c.several hundred
Outcome
Perpetual state of low-level raiding; Scottish counter-raids; warden court records show hundreds of unresolved bills; no sustained pacification achieved before 1603.
The Battle

History & Significance

Redesdale, the valley of the Rede running south from Carter Bar, was the principal English reiver territory of the Middle March. Its leading families — the Halls, Reeds, and Hedleys — raided into Scotland and against adjacent English dales on a near-continuous basis through the 1520s to 1540s. Redesdale was described by English administrators as more dangerous than Liddesdale. Royal attempts to plant garrisons at Redesdale failed repeatedly because the local population regarded external authority as the greater enemy.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around Northumberland

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 Northumberland