Siege of Durham
Who Fought
Scottish army under Malcolm II; English defenders reinforced by a force raised by Uhtred from Bernicia and Yorkshire
History & Significance
The siege of Durham was a 1006 attack on the settlement of Durham, England, conducted by Scottish forces under Malcolm II against the English defenders, possibly as part of an attempt to gain complete control of Cumbria, or part of the traditional raiding of a new Scottish king intended to display their military might. The battle ended in defeat for the Scottish after Uhtred of Bamburgh raised an army from the lands of Bernicia and York to repel the attackers. This victory would lead to Uhtred being named Earl of Bamburgh, and later Earl of York, uniting these lands under his leadership.
Despite his defeat, Malcolm would lead another attack into England in 1018 and gained recognition that the lands north of the River Tweed were under Scottish control after the Battle of Carham.
During the late 10th century, the kings of Scotland attempted to gain control over the lands of Bernicia, with Indulf gaining Edinburgh during his reign of 954–62. A history of border raids between Scottish and Northumbrian rulers continued into the 11th century, despite an agreement in 973 between Kenneth II of Scotland and Edgar of England, under which the rulers of Scotland gained the lordship of Cumbria in return for defending Cumbria and the English borders from raiders.
Malcolm II became king of Scotland in 1005 and may have wished to gain Cumbria outright at a time when Æthelred II of England was occupied fighting Vikings in southern England, rather than waiting for the English king to gift the lands for which Malcolm would have had to give homage. There was also a tradition of Scottish kings leading raids shortly after ascending the throne to demonstrate their military might, which may have provided a reason for the invasion in 1006.
A settlement at Durham was founded in 995 by monks from Lindisfarne and the remains of Cuthbert, patron saint of Northumbria, were moved to this new site. A small stone church had been built on a wooded hill overlooking a u-shaped bend in the river. Uhtred, son of Waltheof, the Earl of Bamburgh, helped the monks clear the site and married the bishop's daughter. De obsessione describes the site as "fortified by nature but not easily inhabitable". Simple defences may have been built to control access to the site.
In 1006, Malcolm marched into England and besieged Durham. Waltheof was too old to fight and remained in Bamburgh, and Ælfhelm, Earl of York, also declined to offer aid. Acting on his father's behalf, Uhtred, described in De obsessione as a young, energetic man skilled in warfare, raised a force from Bernicia and York and led them to victory over the Scottish invaders.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Durham 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.
The grim ceremonial that followed the Scottish defeat left a lasting impression in local tradition: women from around Durham were each paid a cow to wash the severed heads of the slain Scottish attackers, after which the heads were fixed upon the spikes of the town's stockade, a stark public declaration of the victory Uhtred had won against the besieging army of Malcolm II.
- The Annals of Ulster describe a 'slaughter of the good men of Scotland', suggesting heavy losses among Scottish nobles; English casualties unrecorded
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- Siege of Durham (1006) · Wikipedia
- Uhtred of Bamburgh · Wikipedia