Monument commemorating The Battle Of Otterburn, known as The Percy Cross

NY 8772 9366, on the north side of the A696, Otterburn, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE19 1JF

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

Overview

Monument to commemorate the Battle of Otterburn, erected in 1777, incorporating a C14 medieval cross base and an historic stone shaft. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1044864
Date first listed:: 07-Jan-1988
List Entry Name:: Monument commemorating The Battle Of Otterburn, known as The Percy Cross
Statutory Address:: NY 8772 9366, on the north side of the A696, Otterburn, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE19 1JF

User submitted image — Uploaded by Mike Rayner This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

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

Images of England Project

To view this image please use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge.

Archive image, may not represent current condition of site.

Date:: 2002-05-16
Reference:: IOE01/07173/13
Rights:: © Mr David Lumley. Source: Historic England Archive

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:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1044864
Date first listed:: 07-Jan-1988
Date of most recent amendment:: 04-Jan-2022
List Entry Name:: Monument commemorating The Battle Of Otterburn, known as The Percy Cross
Location Description:
Statutory Address 1:: NY 8772 9366, on the north side of the A696, Otterburn, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE19 1JF

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: NY 8772 9366, on the north side of the A696, Otterburn, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE19 1JF

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

District:: Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Otterburn
National Grid Reference:: NY8771493666

Summary

Monument to commemorate the Battle of Otterburn, erected in 1777, incorporating a C14 medieval cross base and an historic stone shaft.

Reasons for Designation

The monument to commemorate the Battle of Otterburn, erected in 1777, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* It is an elegant and poignant monument erected within the battlefield; * an C18 monument incorporating a medieval cross base and an historic fireplace lintel.

Historic interest:

* it commemorates the Battle of Otterburn of 1388, where Henry Percy ('Hotspur') led an English army into attack against a Scottish cross-border raid, in which the Scots prevailed but Douglas was killed, and Hotspur was captured.

Group value:

* the monument lies within the registered battlefield of Otterburn and also benefits from a spatial group value with a listed milestone on the adjacent Turnpike.

History

The Battle of Otterburn took place in 1388. The Scots decided to take advantage of the disunity caused in England by the power struggle between King Richard II and the Lords Appellant by mounting a large-scale cross-border raid. James, Earl of Douglas, led a force into Northumberland. As they returned northwards, the Scots paused at Otterburn where, in pursuit of a chivalric challenge to Douglas, Henry Percy ('Hotspur') led an English army into attack.

Arriving near Otterburn at evening, Percy launched a flanking attack with part of his force under the Lords Redmane and Ogyl, hoping to panic the Scots into fleeing straight into the main body of troops under Percy himself. But rather than taking flight, the Scots launched a surprise counter-attack on Percy's men. Fighting continued through the night, and eventually the Scots prevailed, although Douglas himself was killed. On the English side Henry Percy and 21 other knights were captured, and over 1,000 were killed. The accounts of the battle are among the best descriptions of medieval chivalry and military tactics. The defeated Hotspur was eventually to meet his death at Shrewsbury in 1403 in an uprising against the King.

It is thought that a battle stone to commemorate the Battle of Otterburn, was originally erected on the battlefield close to the location of the fiercest fighting. A secondary account describes it as 'nothing more than a roughly carved boulder'. The monument in its present form was erected in 1777 about 150m from its original location so it could be seen from the Turnpike road to Scotland, that was being constructed at the time. The monument incorporates a medieval cross base, and the shaft is said to have formerly been the kitchen lintel at Otterburn Tower or was brought from nearby Davyshiel. The battle is the subject of numerous ballads and poems, most notably The Battle of Otterburn (early C15), Chevy Chase (C16) and Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish and English Borders (1803).

Details

Monument to commemorate the Battle of Otterburn, erected in 1777, incorporating a C14 medieval cross base and an historic stone shaft.

MATERIALS: dressed sandstone.

DESCRIPTION: a round base of three steps followed by two square steps. On this is a squared, medieval cross base, and from this rises an upright, faceted and tapering stone about 2.4m high. There are two iron pegs attached to its south face, and most faces contain graffiti.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 239696
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Hodgson, J C , History of Northumberland Vol 1 part 2, (1827), 131
Usherwood, P, Beach, J, Morris, C, Public Sculpture of North-East England, (2000), 43-44
White, R, History of the Battle of Otterburn, (1857)
Websites
Battle of Otterburn, 1388; Registered Battlefield Description, accessed 22-07-2021 from https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000029

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.