BattlefieldsScots Raid into Northumberland — burning of Wooler 1341
Medieval

Scots Raid into Northumberland — burning of Wooler 1341

1341
Northumberland, England
Also known as: Burning of Wooler 1341 · Scottish raid 1341
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Northumberland, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
English Northumberland (Wooler)
Forces
English defenders: c.200–300 townspeople & militia
VS
Victor
Scotland
Forces
Scottish raiders: c.500–1,000
Outcome
Scottish raiding force burned Wooler; livestock driven north; English community devastated
The Battle

History & Significance

The burning of Wooler in 1341 was part of the sustained Scottish raiding after Bannockburn. Wooler, a market town in the Northumberland hills, was a natural target — large enough to yield substantial plunder but too small to defend itself. Raids of this kind were conducted so frequently throughout the mid-fourteenth century that many Northumberland communities simply abandoned their settlements and moved to more defensible locations.

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