⚔ Battlefields of Britain

Capture of Roxburgh 1460

Capture of Roxburgh: Roxburgh Castle engraving by William Miller after W Brown
Image: William Miller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).

Key facts

Date (year)1460Wikidata P585 point in time
Century15th centuryderived
PeriodWars of the Roses & late medievalderived
CountryScotlandderived

About the battle

The capture of Roxburgh was a siege that took place during the Anglo-Scottish Wars. Following the Second War of Scottish Independence intermittent conflict continued along the Anglo-Scottish border with Roxburgh Castle being held by the English since 1346 and by the 1380s was one of the last English held strongholds in Scotland. In July 1460 James II of Scotland began a campaign to reclaim Roxburgh, aiming to take advantage of the fact that the Wars of the Roses were raging in England.

During the siege James was mortally wounded when one of his own cannons exploded and the siege was continued by his wife, Mary of Guelders. The castle surrendered on 5 August and was subsequently destroyed by the attackers.

Visiting the battlefield

Location

  • Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 55.5966, -2.4566

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

Directions (Google Maps) OpenStreetMap

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Capture of Roxburgh (1460) (revision 1372060557), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations removed. No text added.

Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).

Nearby battlefields

Browse more: battles in Scottish Borders · battles in Scotland · Wars of the Roses & late medieval · 15th century battles

Further reading