Battlefields›Battle of Brechin
Medieval

Battle of Brechin

1452
Scotland
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Clan Lindsay (Rebels)
VS
Victor
Clan Gordon (Royalists)
Outcome
Royalist Victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Brechin was fought on 18 May 1452 during the reign of James II of Scotland, about two and a half miles north north east of Brechin. It has been regarded as part of the civil war during his reign between the king and an alliance of powerful noble families led by the Black Douglases, which as the king won was significant in the development of a relatively strong centralised monarchy in Scotland during the Late Middle Ages.

A royalist army formed by the Clan Gordon and Clan Ogilvy, led by Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly, defeated the rebel Alexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford, a leading ally of the Black Douglases who was known as "The Tiger". Shortly after Crawford submitted to the king, leaving the Black Douglases more isolated, to be defeated at the Battle of Arkinholm in 1455.

However, it has been argued that it was a localised conflict in the north-east of Scotland, of only limited relevance to wider conflicts in Scotland as a whole in spite of the fact that the Gordons fought under the royal banner.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Brechin lies on Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, bedrock that formed in the Pragian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone.

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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.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Brechin

Brechin Cathedral Round Tower
Brechin Cathedral Round Tower
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 mi

Brechin Cathedral Round Tower is a Romanesque round tower of twelfth-century date, forming part of the cathedral complex in Brechin, Angus. The tower stands approximately 85 feet high and is distinguished by its round stone construction, a form characteristic of Irish-influenced ecclesiastical ar…

C Michael Hogan / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Middle Drums,ring ditches 50m NE of
Middle Drums,ring ditches 50m NE of
Scheduled monument · ~1.7 mi

Middle Drums is a ring ditch monument located in Angus, Scotland, protected as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. Ring ditches are circular or sub-circular earthworks created by the deliberate excavation of a ditch, typically surrounding a central area which may have held timb…

Killievair Stone, standing stone, Barrelwell Smithy
Killievair Stone, standing stone, Barrelwell Smithy
Scheduled monument · Bronze Age · ~2.2 mi

Killievair Stone is a Bronze Age standing stone located near Barrelwell Smithy in Angus, Scotland. The monument stands on bedrock of the Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, sandstones interspersed with conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone formed during the Pragian period of the Early Devonian. This local g…

Balnamoon, souterrain 300m NNW of Meadowburn
Balnamoon, souterrain 300m NNW of Meadowburn
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~3.4 mi

Balnamoon souterrain is an Iron Age underground stone-built chamber situated 300 metres north-north-west of Meadowburn in Angus, Scotland. The monument lies on bedrock of the Strathmore Group, a sequence of sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone laid down in the Emsian pe…

Capo Plantation, long barrow
Capo Plantation, long barrow
Scheduled monument · ~4.5 mi

Capo Plantation is a long barrow situated in Kincardineshire, Scotland. This Neolithic monument comprises an earthen mound constructed to cover and contain burials, a characteristic form of communal tomb built across Britain and Ireland between approximately 4000 and 3000 BC. The barrow lies upon…

Aberlemno, cross slab and symbol stones, NE of Village Hall
Aberlemno, cross slab and symbol stones, NE of Village Hall
Scheduled monument · ~5.4 mi

Aberlemno cross slab and symbol stones is a collection of carved Pictish monuments situated northeast of the village hall in Angus. The stones comprise a finely worked cross slab alongside symbol stones, representing significant examples of early medieval Pictish art dating to around the 7th–9th…

Anne Burgess / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Brechin,Maison Dieu Chapel
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0 miles
Broomfield,enclosure 200m ESE of
Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~1.6 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Brechin

Action at Brechin 1639
1639
~0.2 miles away
Battle of Stracathro
1130
~0.6 miles away
Huntly Hill
~2.5 miles away
Kinnell Airfield, Battle H.Q.
~5.5 miles away
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