Durham and the Battle of Neville's Cross

Tuesday 24 June 2003. I was staying in Durham for the night to speak at a conference on the following day.

It turned out that it was Durham University's Graduation Day and so the usual hotels I would use were all fully booked and I stayed at the Brown's Three Tuns Hotel on New Elvet, a road running alongside the line of the River Wear. Apparently it is now student accomodation apartments.

I had recently read a book that featured the Battle of Neville's Cross which took place on 17 October 1346. It was the second Scottish War of Independence and also fell within the 100 Years War that England was embroiled in with France. The site of the battle was only half a mile away so I set off to walk to it, not knowing whether or not there was anything to see in the way of memorials, significant street names etc.

This tree is all I found. Planted by the Neville's Cross Over 60s Club on the 650th anniversary of the battle.

I perhaps should have done a bit more research, but I knew the bare bones of the battle - King Edward III was in France with 15,000 troops and the French King Philip VI begged the Scottish King David II (son of Robert the Bruce) to invade northern England in order that Edward might withdraw troops from France, whilst thinking that the bulk of the English army was in France.

The Scottish invaded but the English still mustered an army of between 6,000-7,000 men as those in France were all from towns south of the River Humber. Men from Lancashire, Yorkshire and Northumbria had been spared the call to arms to keep the border with Scotland safe.

The English longbowmen played a valiant part in the battle. Although for many it would have been their first battle, the Lancastrian bowmen (yay!) were outstanding and after the battle were each awarded £10 (ten pounds stirling being the equivalent of £9,990 in 2023 value). As I walked back, I found this long street called Archery Rise.

I was intending to visit Durham Cathedral, but by the time I got back there it was closed. University students, dressed in their graduation robes were congregating with their parents in tow and celebrations went on into the night - as I heard from the street outside my bedroom window!

Work Index