Battlefields›Battle of Annan Moor
English Civil War

Battle of Annan Moor

1645
Scotland
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
English Royalists
VS
Victor
Scottish Covenanters
Forces involved

English Royalists: 600

Outcome
Scottish victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Annan Moor took place during the Scottish civil war, part of the intertwined Wars of the Three Kingdoms that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651.

The Royalist army led by Lord Digby and Marmaduke Langdale had been trying to force a passage north to link up with the Marquis of Montrose. The battle took place on 20 and 21 October 1645 when the experienced cavalry commander Sir John Brown of Fordell and his newly raised Scots cavalry regiment defeated the Royalists army. The Royalists lost more than half of their 600 men as casualties or prisoners. The remainder of the Royalist were driven back into England.

Brown, C, Scottish Battlefields, Gloucestershire, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7524-3685-2

Furgol, E., A Regimental History of the Covenanting armies (John Donald, 1990).

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Annan Moor lies on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

Casualties & Losses
  • Scottish Covenanters: Minimal
  • English Royalists: High
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Annan Moor

This page covers Battle of Annan Moor. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
First month just £4.99, then £9.99 a month. Unlimited locations, cancel anytime.

Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

Start your Battle of Annan Moor report
Or see a real report first
Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Annan Moor

Annan old graveyard, recumbent grave marker 45m ENE of town hall
Annan old graveyard, recumbent grave marker 45m ENE of town hall
Scheduled monument · ~0.9 mi

Annan Old Graveyard Recumbent Grave Marker is a horizontal grave stone located 45 metres east-north-east of Annan Town Hall in Dumfriesshire, south-western Scotland. The monument lies within the historic graveyard of this market town situated on the banks of the River Annan. It is protected as a…

Gleningle, enclosure 80m NE of
Gleningle, enclosure 80m NE of
Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~1.2 mi

Gleningle Enclosure is a post-medieval field boundary situated 80 metres north-east of Gleningle itself in Dumfriesshire, south-west Scotland. The monument comprises a substantial stone-built enclosure that reflects the agricultural reorganisation and land management practices of early modern Sco…

St Bryde's Kirk, church 95m W of Brydekirk Mains
St Bryde's Kirk, church 95m W of Brydekirk Mains
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~2.9 mi

St Bryde's Kirk is a medieval church located 95 metres west of Brydekirk Mains in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. The site occupies sandstone bedrock of the Border Group formation, geology that would have provided accessible building stone for the church's construction. The kirk represents an important…

Woodfield, enclosure 295m NE of
Woodfield, enclosure 295m NE of
Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~3.8 mi

Woodfield is a post-medieval enclosure located in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, situated approximately 295 metres north-east of the settlement. The monument is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM12029. The enclosure lies upon bedrock composed of Triass…

Robgill Tower, fort 90m NW of
Robgill Tower, fort 90m NW of
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~3.9 mi

Robgill Tower is an Iron Age fort situated in Dumfriesshire, south-western Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument. The fort occupies a defensible position above the local landscape, its ramparts and ditches taking advantage of the underlying Triassic bedrock of interbedded sandstone and cong…

Woodhouse Tower, tower house
Woodhouse Tower, tower house
Scheduled monument · ~4 mi

Woodhouse Tower is a tower house located in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. This defensive residential structure stands upon Triassic sandstone and conglomerate bedrock, characteristic of the geological foundation across much of south-western Scotland. The underlying strata provided both the stone for c…

Mote of Annan, motte-and-bailey castle, 70m SSW of Moat House
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.9 miles
Woodhead,enclosure 200m NE of
Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~1.1 miles
More from this era

Other English Civil War Battles

Battle of Kringen
1612
Scotland
Campbell Raid into MacDonald Islay Territory 1612
1612
Scotland
Mackenzie Seizure of Lewis 1610
1610
Scotland
Iona — Chiefs Signing Under Duress 1609
1609
Scotland
In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Annan Moor

Battle of Annan
1332
~0 miles away
Aldersyde
~0.8 miles away
Battle of Dornock
1333
~1.6 miles away
Annan Airfield, Battle H.Q.
~2.1 miles away
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around this battlefield

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — 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 this battlefieldView a sample report
Sources
All Battlefields