Battlefields›Battle of Newburn Ford 1640
English Civil War

Battle of Newburn Ford 1640

1640
England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
England
Status
Registered · NHLE 1000025
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Newburn took place on 28 August 1640, during the Second Bishops' War, near Newburn in northern England. A Scottish Covenanter army of 20,000 under Alexander Leslie defeated an English force of 5,000, led by Viscount Conway. The only significant military action of the war, victory enabled the Scots to take Newcastle upon Tyne, which provided the bulk of London's coal supplies, and allowed them to put pressure on Charles I of England. The October 1640 Treaty of Ripon required him to recall Parliament to ratify the peace settlement.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Newburn Ford 1640 lies on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.

Registered Historic Battlefield

This battlefield is listed on the Register of Historic Battlefields — a national designation identifying Britain's most significant battle sites for protection and further research. Reference: NHLE 1000025.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Newburn Ford 1640

This page covers Battle of Newburn Ford 1640. 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.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
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.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
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.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Newburn Ford 1640

Ryton village cross 160m south east of church
Ryton village cross 160m south east of church
Scheduled monument · ~0.8 mi

Ryton village cross is a medieval wayside monument located approximately 160 metres south-east of Ryton parish church in County Durham. The cross represents a type of communal landmark typical of English villages from the medieval period onwards, serving functions both practical and ceremonial wi…

Mainlymazza / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 from Denton to Blucher
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 8 from Denton to Blucher
Scheduled monument · ~1.6 mi

Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 8, between Denton and Blucher in Northumberland, is a section of the Roman frontier defence system constructed under the Emperor Hadrian in the second century AD. The wall and its associated vallum represent the physical and administrative division of the northern fron…

Ethanol6565 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Old Hollinside fortified hall house, Whickham
Old Hollinside fortified hall house, Whickham
Scheduled monument · ~3 mi

Old Hollinside fortified hall house is a fifteenth-century fortified dwelling located in Whickham, County Durham. The structure exemplifies the defensive architecture characteristic of the Anglo-Scottish border region during the medieval period, when fortified hall houses served both residential…

Ataffo / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Gibside Hall, 17th to 19th century country house
Gibside Hall, 17th to 19th century country house
Scheduled monument · ~3.4 mi

Gibside Hall is a country house in County Durham that represents significant architectural development across the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The house evolved through successive periods of building and modification, reflecting changing tastes and the aspirations of its successive owners…

John Darch / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Prudhoe Castle tower keep castle
Prudhoe Castle tower keep castle
Scheduled monument · ~4.5 mi

Prudhoe Castle is a Norman fortress situated on the River Tyne in Northumberland, founded in the late twelfth century by the de Umfraville family as a motte-and-bailey stronghold that was subsequently developed with stone fortifications. The castle's most prominent feature is its substantial ston…

Chris Tweedy / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
DUNSTON STAITHS
DUNSTON STAITHS
Scheduled monument · ~4.6 mi

Dunston Staiths is a late nineteenth-century coal shipping facility located on the River Tyne near Gateshead, Durham. Built in 1893-1895 to serve the collieries of the Tyne valley, the structure comprises a substantial timber-built loading pier and associated infrastructure designed to transfer c…

AlixChaytor / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Motte, 50m north of Holycross Church, Ryton
Scheduled monument · ~0.9 miles
Hadrian's Wall and vallum in wall mile 9, Blucher to Dene House
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 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 Newburn Ford 1640

Scots raid on Northumberland 1314
1314
~0.7 miles away
Battle of Newburn
1640
~0.8 miles away
Scots Army Crosses the Tyne - February 1644
1644
~4.8 miles away
Siege of Newcastle (1644)
1644
~5.1 miles away
Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around this battlefield

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Sources
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