Battlefields›Siege of Inverness
Medieval

Siege of Inverness

1429
Scotland
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Battle

History & Significance

The siege of Inverness of 1429 was a conflict between Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross (also 3rd Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald) and the Scottish crown. Alexander of Islay besieged the royal Inverness Castle and burnt the town of Inverness to ashes.

When James I of Scotland returned to his kingdom from captivity in England he set about subduing those who threatened his royal authority including his own kinsmen, the Albany Stewarts, but also Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross (Alexander MacDonald, Lord of the Isles) as well as some of the most powerful men in the northern territories such as Angus Mackay of Strathnaver - a leader of 4000 fighting men, Kenneth Mor, John Ross, William Leslie and Angus de Moray who were each leaders of 2000 men. They had all been imprisoned after arriving in good faith to meet James at Inverness Castle in 1428.

James executed some of his prisoners but Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross was set free after a few months. Alexander showed his gratitude by gathering his fighting men and razing most of Inverness to the ground in 1429.

On 27 August 1429 Alexander of Islay surrendered himself to the king at Holyrood Abbey. Stripped to his underclothes and made to hand over his sword in front of the king, Alexander was led away into captivity in Tantallon Castle.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Siege of Inverness lies on Middle Old Red Sandstone (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

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Everything a full report reveals about Siege of Inverness

This page covers Siege of Inverness. 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 Siege of Inverness

Remains of Cromwell's Fort, bastion west of Lotland Place, Inverness
Remains of Cromwell's Fort, bastion west of Lotland Place, Inverness
Scheduled monument · ~0.8 mi

Remains of Cromwell's Fort is a bastion fort west of Lotland Place in Inverness, constructed during the English military occupation of Scotland in the mid-seventeenth century. The fort sits on bedrock of Middle Old Red Sandstone, a durable conglomerate and sandstone foundation laid down in the Mi…

Caledonian Canal,Clachnaharry Sea Lock to Muirtown Quay
Caledonian Canal,Clachnaharry Sea Lock to Muirtown Quay
Scheduled monument · ~1.3 mi

Clachnaharry Sea Lock to Muirtown Quay is a section of the Caledonian Canal that forms the navigable link between Inverness and the Moray Firth on the north-east coast of Scotland. This stretch encompasses the tidal sea lock at Clachnaharry and the inland basin at Muirtown, two essential componen…

Lower Slackbuie, unenclosed settlement 90m E of 1 West Heather Road
Lower Slackbuie, unenclosed settlement 90m E of 1 West Heather Road
Scheduled monument · ~1.6 mi

Lower Slackbuie is an unenclosed settlement located 90 metres east of 1 West Heather Road in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The site occupies ground underlain by Middle Old Red Sandstone bedrock of Middle Devonian age, a mixed sequence of conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone that would hav…

Ashton Farm Cottages, ring ditch 415m SW and pit circles 460m WSW of
Ashton Farm Cottages, ring ditch 415m SW and pit circles 460m WSW of
Scheduled monument · ~2 mi

Ashton Farm Cottages is a Bronze Age settlement in Inverness-shire, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The site comprises a ring ditch situated 415 metres south-west of the cottages and pit circles located 460 metres west-south-west of the main structure. These fe…

Caledonian Canal,Dochgarroch Lock - Muirtown Locks
Caledonian Canal,Dochgarroch Lock - Muirtown Locks
Scheduled monument · ~2 mi

Dochgarroch Lock to Muirtown Locks is a section of the Caledonian Canal in Inverness-shire, Scotland. This waterway forms part of Thomas Telford's ambitious early nineteenth-century scheme to connect the east and west coasts of Scotland via the Great Glen. The canal's route follows the geological…

Holme Mains, motte 210m SE of
Holme Mains, motte 210m SE of
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~2.1 mi

Holme Mains is a medieval motte situated in Inverness-shire, Scotland, approximately 210 metres south-east of the settlement from which it takes its name. The monument represents a characteristic form of feudal fortification established during the medieval period, when such earthworks served as t…

Inverness, site of Dominican friary and effigy of a knight, Friars' Street
Scheduled monument · ~0.4 miles
Craig Phadrig,fort
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~1.7 miles
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Battles near Siege of Inverness

Siege of Inverness (1746)
1746
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Siege of Inverness (1562)
1562
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Siege of Inverness (1649)
1649
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Siege of Inverness (1715)
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