Battlefields›Skirmish at Hylton 1644
English Civil War

Skirmish at Hylton 1644

1644
Tyne and Wear, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Tyne and Wear, England
Status
Unregistered
Outcome
Inconclusive skirmish between Royalist forces based at Hylton and the Scottish Covenanter army encamped at Sunderland, fought on high ground between Hylton and the sea on 24 March 1644, part of the wider Royalist attempt to break the Scots' hold on Sunderland (which included the Battle of Boldon Hill the same day). The Royalists subsequently withdrew to Durham and the Scots later marched south to join Parliamentary forces; there is no sourced evidence that Hylton Castle itself was besieged, captured, or that its garrison was expelled.
The Battle

History & Significance

Skirmish at Hylton 1644 was a Civil War skirmish, fought at Tyne and Wear, England in 1644. Inconclusive skirmish between Royalist forces based at Hylton and the Scottish Covenanter army encamped at Sunderland, fought on high ground between Hylton and the sea on 24 March 1644, part of the wider Royalist attempt to break the Scots' hold on Sunderland (which included the Battle of Boldon Hill the same day). The Royalists subsequently withdrew to Durham and the Scots later marched south to join Parliamentary forces; there is no sourced evidence that Hylton Castle itself was besieged, captured, or that its garrison was expelled.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Skirmish at Hylton 1644 lies on Permian Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Permian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

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Everything a full report reveals about Skirmish at Hylton 1644

This page covers Skirmish at Hylton 1644. 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.
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 Skirmish at Hylton 1644

Hylton Castle: a medieval fortified house, chapel, 17th and 18th century country houses and associated gardens
Hylton Castle: a medieval fortified house, chapel, 17th and 18th century country houses and associated gardens
Scheduled monument · ~0.8 mi

Hylton Castle is a medieval fortified house located near Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England, dating primarily to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The principal structure is a substantial gatehouse of rendered stone, erected by the Hylton family as part of their fortified residence, which…

Cwhitehouse / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Ryhope pumping engines
Ryhope pumping engines
Scheduled monument · ~4.1 mi

Ryhope Pumping Station is a Victorian water pumping installation located near Sunderland in Tyne and Wear (formerly County Durham). The station was constructed in the 1860s to supply fresh water to the growing urban areas of the Sunderland district, representing an important development in ninete…

GracieLizzie / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bowes Railway
Bowes Railway
Scheduled monument · ~4.7 mi

Bowes Railway is a preserved early railway line located near Bowes in County Durham, dating from the 1890s. The railway was constructed to transport coal and minerals from local collieries to the main railway network, representing a significant example of Victorian industrial railway engineering.…

Chris Heaton / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
St Paul's Monastery, Jarrow
St Paul's Monastery, Jarrow
Scheduled monument · ~5 mi

St Paul's Monastery, Jarrow is a Benedictine monastic foundation established in 681 by Ceolfrith, an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and churchman, on the south bank of the River Tyne in County Durham. The monastery became one of the most significant centres of learning in early medieval Northumbria, and is…

Vallan / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Marsden lime kilns
Marsden lime kilns
Scheduled monument · ~5.2 mi

Marsden lime kilns is a complex of stone-built lime kilns located near Marsden in Durham. The kilns date from the post-medieval period, likely from the eighteenth or nineteenth century, reflecting the industrial exploitation of local limestone resources in the region. The structures retain eviden…

Mick Garratt / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Chester New Bridge
Chester New Bridge
Scheduled monument · ~5.7 mi

Chester New Bridge is a stone bridge spanning the River Wear at Chester-le-Street in County Durham. The bridge dates from the medieval period and represents significant infrastructure development in the region. Built to facilitate crossing of the river at an important point in the settlement, it…

peter robinson / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Defended settlement on Humbledon Hill
Scheduled monument · ~1.8 miles
Round barrow on Hasting Hill, 230m west of Hasting Hill Farm
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Skirmish at Hylton 1644

Viking Raid on Wearmouth Monastery 794
794
~2.4 miles away
Wearmouth Monastery Norse Raid
860
~2.4 miles away
Battle of Boldon Hill
1644
~2.5 miles away
Capture of Portobello (1601)
1601
~5 miles away
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