BattlefieldsSiege of Durham Castle 1069
Medieval

Siege of Durham Castle 1069

1069
Durham, England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Durham, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Norman garrison under Robert de Comines
VS
Victor
Northumbrian rebels
Outcome
Rebels broke into Durham, killed Robert de Comines and most of his garrison, and burned the house in which he had taken shelter; the attack provoked William the Conqueror's subsequent Harrying of the North.
The Battle

History & Significance

Siege of Durham Castle 1069 was a medieval siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Durham, England in 1069. Northumbrian rebels prevailed over Norman garrison under Robert de Comines. Rebels broke into Durham, killed Robert de Comines and most of his garrison, and burned the house in which he had taken shelter; the attack provoked William the Conqueror's subsequent Harrying of the North.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Durham Castle 1069 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.

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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 Siege of Durham Castle 1069

Framwellgate Bridge
Framwellgate Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 mi

Framwellgate Bridge is a medieval bridge crossing the River Wear in Durham, dating to the twelfth century. The structure comprises a series of stone arches and has been substantially rebuilt and modified over its long history, particularly during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, though i…

Tom Page / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Elvet Bridge
Elvet Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Elvet Bridge is a medieval bridge spanning the River Wear in Durham, England, first constructed in the twelfth century as a vital crossing for travellers and commerce approaching Durham city from the south. The bridge originally comprised a series of stone arches, though it has undergone substant…

KlausFoehl / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
The Water Gate
The Water Gate
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

The Water Gate is a medieval fortified gateway structure located in Durham, England, forming part of the town's defensive architecture. Dating to the medieval period, the structure represents an important element of Durham's urban fortifications, controlling access to the settlement via the River…

St Cuthbert's Society, University of Durham / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Prebend's Bridge
Prebend's Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Prebend's Bridge is a medieval stone bridge crossing the River Wear in Durham. The bridge dates from the fourteenth century and represents an important example of medieval bridge construction in the North East of England. It takes its name from the prebends, or cathedral clergy, whose lands it se…

PeterGHughes at English Wikipedia / CC BY 2.5 / Wikimedia Commons
Maiden's Bower round cairn
Maiden's Bower round cairn
Scheduled monument · ~0.6 mi

Maiden's Bower is a Neolithic or Early Bronze Age round cairn located in Durham, England. The monument comprises a mound of stones constructed as a burial structure, characteristic of funerary monuments erected during the prehistoric period in northern Britain. The cairn survives as a discernible…

Aquaquaticat / CC BY 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Neville's Cross
Neville's Cross
Scheduled monument · ~0.7 mi

Neville's Cross is a medieval stone cross located in Durham, England, erected in the mid-fourteenth century to commemorate the Battle of Neville's Cross fought in 1346. The monument stands as a substantial example of a wayside cross from the later medieval period and marks the site where English…

Gordon Griffiths / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Aldin Grange (or Bearpark) Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 miles
Moated site at Low Butterby Farm
Scheduled monument · ~1.8 miles
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