Battle of Ancrum Moor

Who Fought

History & Significance

The Battle of Ancrum Moor was fought during the War of the Rough Wooing in 1545. The Scottish victory put a temporary end to English incursions in the Scottish border and lowlands. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Historic Environment (Amendment) Act 2011.

As his reign drew to a close, King Henry VIII sought to secure the alliance of Scotland and the marriage of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, to his son Edward. He had the support of some Scots nobles who had been taken prisoner at the Battle of Solway Moss and mixed diplomacy with the threat of force, but in December 1543, the Scottish Parliament, after much internal dissension, decided to reject Henry's overtures and instead renew the alliance with France.

Henry's reaction was to declare war against Scotland. This attempt to cajole Scotland into alliance was another episode in England's long history of antagonism with her northern neighbour. Henry VIII desired a diplomatic marriage that would neutralise the effects of Scotland's own international relations on his borders. The war was later called the "Rough Wooing".

Henry ordered the Earl of Hertford to devastate Edinburgh, Leith and many other towns. Hertford dutifully laid waste to much of southern Scotland in two expeditions in 1544, burning Edinburgh in May.

In 1545, an army under Sir Ralph Eure (alternatively spelt "Evers") continued to pillage in the Borders. Perhaps their worst atrocity was the burning of Brumehous Tower with the lady of the house and her children and servants inside. The attacks had forged an unlikely alliance between the Earl of Arran, Regent for the infant Mary, and the Earl of Angus. These two Scottish nobles had long been bitter rivals for many years, and had even fought a pitched battle in the streets of Edinburgh in 1520. However, Angus's estates had been targeted during the recent border raids. Angus learned that Eure had been granted some of his lands in the Scottish borders by Henry VIII, and he declared that he would witness the title deeds with a sharp pen and red ink. Internal Scottish politics were set aside, Arran and his rival for power Mary of Guise were reconciled with the Earl of Angus and his brother George Douglas of Pittendreich at the Parliament of Scotland in December 1544, when the Douglases were pardoned for their previous treasons with England.

The Scottish army consisted initially of between 300 and 1,000 "lances" under Angus, and a similar number of troops from Fife under George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes and Norman Leslie, Master of Rothes. They were joined by Borderers under Scott of Buccleuch, whose lands had also suffered devastation at Eure's hands. Together, they moved to confront the English army near Jedburgh.

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Ancrum Moor lies on Stratheden Group, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Ancrum Moor

Castle Hill, fort

Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1 mi

Castle Hill, fort is an Iron Age hillfold positioned on high ground in Roxburghshire, commanding views across the surrounding landscape. The fort occupies a naturally defensible location, its prominence enhanced by the underlying geology of mafic igneous rock from the Carboniferous to Permian per…

Mantle Walls, Ancrum, bishop's palace

Scheduled monument · ~1.1 mi

Mantle Walls is a bishop's palace situated at Ancrum in Roxburghshire, Scotland. The site occupies land underlain by Stratheden Group bedrock, a Late Devonian formation of interbedded sandstone and conglomerate that would have provided local building stone. As the residence of a bishop, the palac…

Ancrum,market cross

Scheduled monument · ~1.1 mi

Ancrum Market Cross is a market cross situated in Roxburghshire, in the Scottish Borders. The monument stands upon bedrock of the Stratheden Group, a Late Devonian formation of interbedded sandstone and conglomerate that underlies much of this part of the border country. Market crosses served as…

Peniel Heugh, fort

Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1.4 mi

Peniel Heugh is an Iron Age fort situated in Roxburghshire, southern Scotland. The monument occupies a naturally commanding position on bedrock formed from a mafic igneous intrusion of Permian age, whose harder stone would have provided a defensible foundation. The fort's location on this distinc…

Remains of medieval bridge below Ancrum Old Bridge

Scheduled monument · ~1.7 mi

The Remains of the medieval bridge below Ancrum Old Bridge is a substantial stone structure located in Roxburghshire, Scotland, positioned beneath the later Ancrum Old Bridge which itself dates to the eighteenth century. The medieval bridge represents an important crossing point over the River Te…

Timpendean,tower & earthwork

Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

Timpendean is a tower and earthwork located in Roxburghshire, Scotland, and is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The site occupies ground underlain by sandstone and conglomerate of the Stratheden Group, Late Devonian in age, typical geology of the Scottish Border…

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• Battle of Ancrum Moor · Wikidata
• Battle_of_Ancrum_Moor · Wikipedia
• Battle of Ancrum Moor · Historic Environment Scotland
• Battle of Ancrum Moor · Canmore
• Battle of Ancrum Moor · Battlefields Trust