Battle of Flodden 1513
Outline: officially registered battlefield boundary.
Key facts
| Date (year) | 1513 | Historic England NHLE name |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 16th century | derived |
| Period | Tudor & early Stuart | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | War of the League of Cambrai | Wikidata |
| Participants | Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland | Wikidata |
| Registered area | 282.2 ha | Historic England |
| Grid reference | NT 89469 36989 | Historic England |
| Historic England list entry | 1000011 | Historic England |
| Designated | 1995-06-06 | Historic England |
About the battle
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland as part of the War of the League of Cambrai and resulted in an English victory. The battle was fought near Branxton, in the county of Northumberland, in northern England, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey. In terms of troop numbers, it was the largest battle ever fought between the two kingdoms.
After besieging and capturing several English border castles, James encamped his invading army on a commanding hilltop position at Flodden, awaited the English force that had been sent against him, and declined a challenge to fight in an open field. Surrey's army, therefore, carried out a circuitous march to position themselves in the rear of the Scottish camp. The Scots countered that by abandoning their camp and occupying the adjacent Branxton Hill and denying it to the English.
The battle began with an artillery duel followed by a downhill advance by Scottish infantry armed with pikes.
Visiting the battlefield
The battlefield still looks much as it probably did at the time of the battle, but the burn and marsh which so badly hampered the Scots advance is now drained. A monument, erected in 1910, is easily reached from Branxton village by following the road past St Paul's Church. There is a small car park and a clearly marked and signposted battlefield trail with interpretive boards which make it easy to visualise the battle. Only the chancel arch remains of the medieval church where James IV's body was said to have rested after the battle – the rest is Victorian, dating from 1849 in the "Norman" style.
Each year, the neighbouring Scottish town of Coldstream marks the Battle of Flodden with a traditional horse ride to the battlefield and then having a service to mark all those who perished during…
The stained-glass Flodden Window in St Leonard's Church, Middleton, now in Greater Manchester, reputedly houses the oldest war memorial in Great Britain, constructed by Sir Richard Assheton in memory of the Battle of Flodden and the archers from Middleton who fought in it.
Location
- OS grid reference: NT 89469 36989
- Approximate centre of registered area: 55.6273, -2.1688
- Registered area: 282.2 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 Flodden (revision 1377060654), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Battlefield today”, “Commemoration”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Battlefield data © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Yeavering 1415 · 8 km
- Battle of Skaithmuir 1316 · 8 km
- Battle of Carham 1010 · 10 km
- Battle of Homildon Hill 1402 · 11 km
- Battle of Haddon Rig 1542 · 12 km
- Battle of Nesbit Moor 1402 · 16 km
Browse more: battles in England · Tudor & early Stuart · 16th century battles