Summary
Battlefield memorial, erected 1910.
Reasons for Designation
The Flodden Memorial, of 1910 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* a simple, yet poignant memorial to the dead of both nations, in the form of a tall Celtic cross, executed in polished Aberdeen granite;
* it occupies a prominent, elevated position within the battlefield, from which the latter can be viewed, and from where the cross is highly visible to the surrounding area.
Historic interest:
* commemorating the Anglo-Scottish Battle of Flodden in 1513, resulting in a devastating Scottish defeat with heavy casualties including King James and much of the Scottish nobility, leading to decades of instability.
Group value:
* it benefits from a spatial group value with several other listed buildings, including the Church of St Paul, considered to have served as a temporary mortuary during and after the battle.
History
The Battle of Flodden in 1513 was triggered when King Henry VIII invaded France. In response, the French King Louis XII requested that his ally, King James IV of Scotland, create a diversion by invading England. This the Scottish King did at the end of August. With Henry VIII in France, the responsibility for defending the north of England fell to his Lieutenant-General, the 70-year-old Earl of Surrey. He gathered together an army of 26,000 men and led it into Northumberland to oppose the Scots. After some audacious manoeuvring, Surrey encountered the 35,000-40,000 strong army of James IV close to the border near the village of Branxton. In the battle that followed, Surrey defeated the Scots. James IV and a large proportion of the Scottish nobility were killed. Casualties were heavy. King James's death was a catastrophe for Scotland. Decades of political instability followed his demise.
The different methods of fighting favoured by each side had a significant effect on the outcome of the battle. Flodden is therefore of great interest to the student of military history.
A public subscription to erect a memorial to commemorate the Battle of Flodden in 1513 was first proposed by the Berwickshire Naturalists club in 1907. It was argued that it was time to erect a commemorative memorial, and to show that the old enmities no longer mattered, that whatever was erected must be the work of both English and Scots. Some £350 was eventually raised, with a large contribution from the Duke of Norfolk whose ancestor the Earl of Surrey had been the victor at the battle. The memorial was unveiled on the 27 September 1910, by Sir George Douglas of Kelso, poet and essayist, with a thousand people present.
Details
Battlefield memorial, erected 1910.
MATERIALS: the base and cross are grey Aberdeen granite.
DESCRIPTION: a tall tapering Celtic cross of polished stone, with raised roll-moulded
edges, sits upon a base, also tapering, of massive, rusticated and roughly dressed stone. Set into the north side of the base is a bronze plaque inscribed in raised sans serif letters: Battle of Flodden/1513/TO THE BRAVE OF BOTH NATIONS/ ERECTED 1910. The monument sits within a square, fenced enclosure with granite boulder posts at the corners and centres of each side, and galvanised tubular supports.
