⚔ Battlefields of Britain

Battle of Largs 1263

Battle of Largs (detail), 1263
Image: William Hole, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).

Key facts

Date (year)1263Wikidata P585 point in time
Century13th centuryderived
PeriodNorman & medievalderived
CountryScotlandderived
War / conflictScottish–Norwegian WarWikidata
ParticipantsKingdom of Scotland, NorwayWikidata

About the battle

The Battle of Largs (2 October 1263) was a battle between the kingdoms of Norway and Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde near Largs, Scotland. The conflict formed part of the Norwegian expedition against Scotland in 1263, in which Haakon Haakonsson, King of Norway attempted to reassert Norwegian sovereignty over the western seaboard of Scotland. Victory was achieved by the Scots with a crafty three-tiered strategy on the part of the young Scottish king, Alexander III: plodding diplomacy forced the campaign to bad weather months and a ferocious storm ravaged the Norwegian fleet, stripping it of many vessels and supplies and making the forces on the Scottish coast vulnerable to an attack that forced the Norwegians into a hasty retreat that was to end their 500-year history of invasion, and leaving Scotland to consolidate its resources into building the nation.

Since the beginning of the 12th century, Largs in the north Ayrshire area of Scotland had lain at the periphery of the Norwegian realm, ruled by magnates who recognised the overlordship of the kings of Norway.

Visiting the battlefield

On 12 July 1912, the battle was commemorated at Largs with the unveiling of a newly built stone tower. Popularly known as "The Pencil", this 70 feet (21 m) tall, pencil-shaped, conical-roofed tower is built out of ashlar blocks of whinstone. Constructed by architect James Sandyford Kay at the cost of nearly £300, the tower was modelled after mediaeval round towers at Abernethy and Brechin, which were thought (erroneously) to have been built as redoubts against Viking marauders. The Pencil has been protected as a listed building since 1971, and stands about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Largs, at grid reference NS 20762 57679, overlooking the local marina.

Although the monument marks the traditional battle site, it stands nowhere near the probable battle site.

Location

  • Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 55.7925, -4.8678

Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.

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Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Largs (revision 1381155065), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Commemoration”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.

Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).

Nearby battlefields

Browse more: battles in Scotland · Norman & medieval · 13th century battles

Further reading