Battle of Dupplin Moor 1332
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary.
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1332 | Wikidata P580 start time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 14th century | derived |
| Period | Norman & medieval | derived |
| Country | Scotland | derived |
| War / conflict | Second War of Scottish Independence | Wikidata |
| Local authority | Perth and Kinross | HES |
| Registered area | 1143.8 ha | HES |
| HES inventory reference | BTL8 | HES |
| Designated | 2011-03-21 | HES |
| Last amended | 2012-12-14 | HES |
About the battle
The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of King David II of Scotland, the son of King Robert Bruce, and English-backed invaders supporting Edward Balliol, son of King John I of Scotland, on 11 August 1332. It took place a little to the south-west of Perth, Scotland, when a Scottish force commanded by Donald, Earl of Mar, estimated to have been stronger than 15,000 and possibly as many as 40,000 men, attacked a largely English force of 1,500 commanded by Balliol and Henry Beaumont, Earl of Buchan. This was the first major battle of the Second War of Scottish Independence.
The First War of Scottish Independence between England and Scotland ended in 1328 with the Treaty of Northampton, recognising Bruce as King of Scots, but the treaty was widely resented in England. King Edward III of England was happy to cause trouble for his northern neighbour and tacitly supported an attempt to place Balliol on the Scottish throne. Balliol and a small force landed in Fife and marched on Perth, then the Scottish capital. A Scottish army at least ten times stronger occupied a defensive position on the far side of the River Earn.
Visiting the battlefield
Historic Environment Scotland has identified a site on Gaskmoor, which it suggests corresponds with the accounts in the chronicles. This is on the Dupplin plateau, south-east of Dupplin Loch, and 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Perth. It points out that if correct
The sides of the valley, and the narrowing of the valley, would have pushed the wings of the schiltrons into the centre, bunching the Scots and creating the deadly crush that appears to have been the main cause of the disaster. The steep slopes would have given a great deal of protection to the [English] from any flanking moves.
Location
- Local authority: Perth and Kinross
- Approximate centre of registered area: 56.3580, -3.5550
- Registered area: 1143.8 hectares
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Dupplin Moor (revision 1378555555), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Location”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Contains Historic Environment Scotland and OS data © Historic Environment Scotland and Crown Copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Tippermuir 1644 · 4 km
- Battle of Methven 1306 · 7 km
- Battle of the North Inch 1396 · 9 km
- Battle of Knock Mary 1511 · 19 km
- Battle of Dunsinane 1054 · 21 km
- Battle of Dollar 875 · 23 km
Other battles of the Second War of Scottish Independence
- Battle of Dornock 1333
- Battle of Boroughmuir 1335
All battles of the Second War of Scottish Independence →
Browse more: battles in Scotland · Norman & medieval · 14th century battles