Battlefields›French Raid on Seaford 1545
Tudor

French Raid on Seaford 1545

1545
Sussex, England
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Sussex, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
French raiding force under Claude d'Annebault
VS
Victor
English militia under Sir Nicholas Pelham
Outcome
French troops landed and burned several cottages but were routed by the local militia summoned by beacon; over 100 French soldiers were killed or drowned, and Admiral d'Annebault subsequently withdrew the invasion fleet to France.
The Battle

History & Significance

French Raid on Seaford 1545 was a Tudor skirmish, fought at Sussex, England in 1545. English militia under Sir Nicholas Pelham prevailed over French raiding force under Claude d'Annebault. French troops landed and burned several cottages but were routed by the local militia summoned by beacon; over 100 French soldiers were killed or drowned, and Admiral d'Annebault subsequently withdrew the invasion fleet to France.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of French Raid on Seaford 1545 lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

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Everything a full report reveals about French Raid on Seaford 1545

This page covers French Raid on Seaford 1545. 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
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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.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near French Raid on Seaford 1545

Martello tower no 74 on Seaford Esplanade
Martello tower no 74 on Seaford Esplanade
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Martello Tower No. 74 on Seaford Esplanade is a coastal defence tower constructed during the Napoleonic Wars in the early nineteenth century. It forms part of the extensive chain of Martello towers built along the Sussex coast between 1805 and 1812 to provide defence against potential French inva…

Simon Burchell / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Hillfort and a bowl barrow on Seaford Head
Hillfort and a bowl barrow on Seaford Head
Scheduled monument · ~1 mi

Seaford Head Hillfort is a prehistoric fortified settlement located on the East Sussex coast near Seaford. The site comprises an Iron Age hillfort with associated Bronze Age bowl barrow, demonstrating occupation and use across multiple prehistoric periods. The hillfort is defined by defensive ear…

Shazz / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Two bowl barrows, the south easternmost pair of a group of six bowl barrows, forming part of a linear round barrow cemetery on Rookery Hill
Two bowl barrows, the south easternmost pair of a group of six bowl barrows, forming part of a linear round barrow cemetery on Rookery Hill
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 mi

Two bowl barrows is a south easternmost pair of a group of six bowl barrows forming part of a linear round barrow cemetery on Rookery Hill in Sussex, England. These monuments date from the Bronze Age and represent typical funerary practice of that period, when communities constructed earthen moun…

Newhaven military fort and lunette battery
Newhaven military fort and lunette battery
Scheduled monument · ~2.1 mi

Newhaven military fort and lunette battery is a nineteenth-century coastal defence structure located at Newhaven in East Sussex. The fortification was constructed during the period of heightened defence preparations against potential French invasion in the mid-nineteenth century, reflecting the s…

Michael Coppins / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Remains of Exceat parish church: part of the former medieval settlement of Exceat, 690m south south west of Westdean Manor
Remains of Exceat parish church: part of the former medieval settlement of Exceat, 690m south south west of Westdean Manor
Scheduled monument · ~2.5 mi

Remains of Exceat parish church is a scheduled monument comprising the archaeological traces of a medieval parish church within the deserted settlement of Exceat in East Sussex. The site lies approximately 690 metres south-southwest of Westdean Manor and represents part of a wider medieval landsc…

Andrew Diack / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Remains of a medieval manor house and associated dovecote 130m and 110m north west of Westdean Manor
Remains of a medieval manor house and associated dovecote 130m and 110m north west of Westdean Manor
Scheduled monument · ~2.6 mi

The remains of a medieval manor house and associated dovecote 130 metres and 110 metres north west of Westdean Manor is a scheduled ancient monument in Sussex. The site comprises earthwork remains of a medieval domestic complex, with the manor house and dovecote representing typical features of t…

N Chadwick / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Medieval crypt, Church Street
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 miles
A pair of bowl barrows forming part of a linear round barrow cemetery, and a hlaew on Rookery Hill
Scheduled monument · ~1.6 miles
More from this era

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Simnel March into Yorkshire 1487
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In the same landscape

Battles near French Raid on Seaford 1545

French Raid on Seaford 1377
1377
~0.1 miles away
Action of 2 May 1707
1707
~6.5 miles away
Battle of Rottingdean 1377
1377
~7.8 miles away
Battle of Lewes 1264
1264
~9.4 miles away
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