Battlefields›Rough Wooing: Siege of Broughty Castle, 1547 to 1550
Tudor

Rough Wooing: Siege of Broughty Castle, 1547 to 1550

1547
Angus, Scotland
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Angus, Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
England (Broughty Castle garrison)
VS
Victor
Scotland and France
Forces involved

English garrison approx. 100 men initially plus supporting ships, later reinforced (about 300 at the final assault) with 5 warships; Earl of Argyll's failed 1548 attempt used about 150 men under Duncan Dundas; French assault force under Paul de Thermes approx. 240 troops in the final 1550 assault.

Outcome
After the Battle of Pinkie (September 1547) Lord Gray of Foulis sold/surrendered Broughty Castle to the English, who garrisoned and fortified it under Sir Andrew Dudley (later Sir John Luttrell). Scottish attempts to retake it under the Earl of Argyll failed in November 1547 and January 1548. A joint Franco-Scottish force under Paul de Thermes, with Mary of Guise present, finally stormed the castle on 6 February 1550; the English garrison surrendered on 12 February 1550.
The Battle

History & Significance

Rough Wooing: Siege of Broughty Castle, 1547 to 1550 was a Tudor siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought at Angus, Scotland in 1547. Scotland and France prevailed over England (Broughty Castle garrison). After the Battle of Pinkie (September 1547) Lord Gray of Foulis sold/surrendered Broughty Castle to the English, who garrisoned and fortified it under Sir Andrew Dudley (later Sir John Luttrell). Scottish attempts to retake it under the Earl of Argyll failed in November 1547 and January 1548. A joint Franco-Scottish force under Paul de Thermes, with Mary of Guise present, finally stormed the castle on 6 February 1550; the English garrison surrendered on 12 February 1550.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Rough Wooing: Siege of Broughty Castle, 1547 to 1550 lies on Early Devonian conglomerate, bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate.

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Monuments
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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.
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Historical Maps
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Rough Wooing: Siege of Broughty Castle, 1547 to 1550

Broughty Castle
Broughty Castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Broughty Castle is a 15th-century artillery fortress located at Broughty Ferry on the Firth of Tay in Angus, Scotland. Built in 1454 by the Earl of Angus, the castle represents an important early example of Scottish military architecture adapted for cannon defence, with its distinctive pentagonal…

TimVickers / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
St Fillan's or Forgan Church
St Fillan's or Forgan Church
Scheduled monument · ~3 mi

St Fillan's Church, Forgan is a medieval parish church situated in Fife, Scotland, with origins traceable to the early medieval period. The church is dedicated to Saint Fillan, an important figure in Scottish ecclesiastical history associated with the region. The surviving structure exhibits char…

Ardestie, souterrain 400m NW of Mains of Ardestie
Ardestie, souterrain 400m NW of Mains of Ardestie
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~3.5 mi

Ardestie is a souterrain situated 400 metres north-west of Mains of Ardestie in Angus, Scotland. This Iron Age underground structure is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument under reference SM90021. Souterrains are distinctive subterranean passages, typically associat…

Tentsmuir Coastal defences
Tentsmuir Coastal defences
Scheduled monument · ~4.3 mi

Tentsmuir Coastal defences is a scheduled monument comprising defensive structures constructed during the Second World War along the Fife coastline near Tayport. The defences form part of the wider network of anti-invasion preparations undertaken by British forces during 1940 and 1941, when Germa…

Esky Loch, barrows 400m E of
Esky Loch, barrows 400m E of
Scheduled monument · ~4.3 mi

Esky Loch barrows is a Bronze Age cemetery located in Fife, Scotland, comprising multiple burial mounds positioned 400 metres east of Esky Loch. The site sits upon Silurian to Devonian extrusive rocks, specifically mafic lava and mafic tuff formed during the Devonian period, which would have crea…

Carlungie, souterrain 160m WNW of
Carlungie, souterrain 160m WNW of
Scheduled monument · Iron Age · ~4.6 mi

Carlungie is a souterrain, an Iron Age underground stone-lined passage constructed beneath what would have been a settlement site in Angus, Scotland. The monument lies approximately 160 metres west-north-west of Carlungie itself and represents a form of settlement structure widely distributed acr…

PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Claypotts Castle
Scheduled monument · ~1 miles
Scotscraig Mansion, house, gateways and walled gardens
Scheduled monument · ~1.8 miles
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