Battlefields›Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544
Tudor

Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544

1544
Roxburghshire, Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Raid
Location
Roxburghshire, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Scotland (Border abbeys and towns)
VS
Victor
England (Hertford)
Outcome
Hertford's forces burned Dryburgh Abbey and the town of Dryburgh on 7 November 1544, and Jedburgh Abbey was also damaged that year as part of the opening phase of the Rough Wooing. Note: sources attribute the dramatic siege and destruction of Kelso Abbey (defended by about 100 men and 12 monks, stormed with the help of Spanish mercenaries under Gamboa) and the wider burning of Roxburgh specifically to Hertford's later raid of 8-23 September 1545, not 1544, so the DB's inclusion of Kelso's destruction under a '1544' date is not supported by the sources found.
The Battle

History & Significance

Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544 was a Tudor raid, fought in the area of Roxburghshire, Scotland in 1544. England (Hertford) prevailed over Scotland (Border abbeys and towns). Hertford's forces burned Dryburgh Abbey and the town of Dryburgh on 7 November 1544, and Jedburgh Abbey was also damaged that year as part of the opening phase of the Rough Wooing. Note: sources attribute the dramatic siege and destruction of Kelso Abbey (defended by about 100 men and 12 monks, stormed with the help of Spanish mercenaries under Gamboa) and the wider burning of Roxburgh specifically to Hertford's later raid of 8-23 September 1545, not 1544, so the DB's inclusion of Kelso's destruction under a '1544' date is not supported by the sources found.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544 lies on Stratheden Group, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544

This page covers Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544. 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.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544

Old Melrose, St Cuthbert's Chapel & monastery site
Old Melrose, St Cuthbert's Chapel & monastery site
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.8 mi

Old Melrose, St Cuthbert's Chapel & monastery site is a medieval monastic settlement in Roxburghshire, positioned on the steep bend of the River Tweed where Hawick Group wacke bedrock rises sharply from the water. The site occupies one of the natural strongholds of the Borders landscape, its geol…

Old Melrose,linear earthwork 300m W of
Old Melrose,linear earthwork 300m W of
Scheduled monument · ~1 mi

Old Melrose is a linear earthwork located in Roxburghshire, Scotland, situated approximately 300 metres west of the settlement. The monument is protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4018. Linear earthworks of this type, common across the Scottish Bor…

Settlement, 53m NW of Hawthorn Lodge
Settlement, 53m NW of Hawthorn Lodge
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 mi

Settlement, 53m NW of Hawthorn Lodge is a prehistoric or medieval settlement situated in Roxburghshire, southern Scotland. The site lies on bedrock belonging to the Stratheden Group, a Late Devonian formation of interbedded sandstone and conglomerate that characterises this part of the Borders la…

Newstead Roman military complex, 660m WSW of Broomhill Farm
Newstead Roman military complex, 660m WSW of Broomhill Farm
Scheduled monument · ~2 mi

Newstead Roman military complex is a fortified installation located in Roxburghshire, south-central Scotland, positioned 660 metres west-southwest of Broomhill Farm. The site occupies ground underlain by wacke bedrock of the Hawick Group, Wenlock age, typical of the Southern Uplands geology in th…

Brotherstone,enclosure 500m NE of
Brotherstone,enclosure 500m NE of
Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~2.2 mi

Brotherstone enclosure is a post-medieval field monument located approximately 500 metres north-east of Brotherstone in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. The enclosure dates to the post-medieval period and represents the agricultural land use patterns characteristic of early modern rural Scotland.…

Walter Baxter / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Littledean Tower,tower-house
Littledean Tower,tower-house
Scheduled monument · ~2.4 mi

Littledean Tower is a tower-house located in Roxburghshire, Scotland. Tower-houses of this type were fortified residential structures built primarily between the 14th and 17th centuries, serving as strongholds for Border families during a period of considerable military instability. These compact…

Dryburgh Abbey
Scheduled monument · ~1 miles
Brotherstone Hill West, fort
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1.9 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Hertford's Raid on the Scottish Borders, November 1544

Battle of Melrose
1526
~3.1 miles away
Battle of Melrose (also known as Battle of Darnick), 1526
1526
~3.2 miles away
Fairnington
~4.1 miles away
Darnick, Skirmish Field
~4.1 miles away
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