Battle of Neville's Cross 1346

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Battlefield
List Entry Number:: 1000024
Date first listed:: 06-Jun-1995

The Missing Pieces Project

Share your view of unique places.

Add your contribution

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Battlefield
List Entry Number:: 1000024
Date first listed:: 06-Jun-1995
Location Description:: NEVILLE'S CROSS

This list entry identifies a battlefield which is registered because of its special historic interest.

Understanding registered battlefields

Corrections and minor amendments

This list entry identifies a battlefield which is registered because of its special historic interest.

Understanding registered battlefields

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: County Durham (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Bearpark
District:: County Durham (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: City of Durham
National Grid Reference:: NZ 25736 42534

Details

BATTLE OF NEVILLE'S CROSS 1346

After King Edwards III's resounding victory over the French at Crecy in August 1346, the English set about besieging Calais. King Phillip of France asked his ally King David II of Scotland to provide a diversion by attacking England. The Scottish army camped outside Durham on 16 October 1346, having raided extensively in Northumberland.

King Edward's northern forces advanced on the Scots the following morning, the two armies clashing on a ridge at Neville's Cross. The Scots were disadvantaged by the uneven topography which broke their formations, but the battle was finely balanced. When one Scottish flank eventually gave way, King David found himself outnumbered and outflanked. The battle was over and David, deserted by his troops, was captured.

Neville's Cross was a shattering defeat for the Scots. When, the next year, the English followed up on their victory, they were able to occupy virtually all of Scotland south of the Forth and Clyde rivers. It took a century for the Scots to recover all that they had lost.

Only the western side of the battlefield remains undeveloped, but it has been enclosed and improved since 1346, when it was rough grazing land. Contemporary accounts tell of ditches criss-crossing the western area, perhaps marking the boundary of Beaurepaire, or Bearpark. It was only in the last century that buildings and the railway encroached upon the battlefield area.

AMENITY FEATURES Public access to the battlefield area is good by both foot and car. The terrain of the battlefield is varied and includes a number of features of historical interest both of the battle period and earlier. The cross, which was there before the battle, is surrounded by modern development.

OTHER DESIGNATIONS Most of the land in the battlefield area is within an Area of Great Landscape Value. To the west lies the Bearpark Recreation Development Area.

KEY SOURCES Laing, D (ed.), 1872, The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland by Andrew of Wyntoun Maxwell, Sir H, 1913, 'Chronicle of Lanercost', in Scottish Historical Review, X, 179

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment to the Selected Sources on 10/04/2019

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 25
Legacy System:: Battlefields

Sources

Websites
English Heritage Battlefield Report: Battle of Neville's Cross (Published 1995), accessed 10th April 2019 from https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/listing/battlefields/nevilles-cross/