Battle of Hexham (Corbridge)
[Name NY 95216100] Hexham Levels Site of Battle AD 1463. (1)
At the end of 1463 the Duke of Somerset returned to the Lancastrian faction and set in train a more agressive policy of consolidating support for King Henry VI on the margins of the kingdom, in Northumberland and Wales. He faced the Yorkists in a pitched battle, only to suffer defeat at the hands of Lord Montagu at Hedgley Moor on 25 April 1464. Nevertheless, the premature departure from the field of all but Sir Ralph Percy's contingent ensured that the majority of the small Lancastrian army was preserved intact. After retreating to Tynedale, Somerset prepared to challenge Montagu once again. The Lancastrians camped near Hexham, inviting attack. On 14 May, a 4,000 strong Yorkist army left Newcastle-upon-Tyne to give battle the following day. It is hard to distinguish where the battle took place and the nature of the battle as written sources for the battle are scanty and do not tell us a great deal. Four sites have been put forward as the battlefield. The traditional location is on the Hexham Levels whilst the second location offered is Swallowship Hill, further sites near Dilston and Shaw farm to the NW of Hexham. In addition, documentary sources also offer conflicting views on the nature of the battle. One source accounts for a battle which was keenly contested whilst a second source states that the Lancastrians fled as soon as they saw the enemy. However, what is certain is that the Lancastrians, again, suffered defeat at the hands of Lord Montagu's Yorkist army. Most of the Lancastrian leaders were taken and the Yorkists' executioners dispatched Somerset, Roos and Hungerford. The Battle of Hexham brought to a close a clear phase of the Wars of the Roses. The partisans of the House of Lancaster by themselves lost the ability to challenge the rule of King Edward IV.
[NY 96076210] The Battle of Hexham which brought to an end the four year warfare between Henry VI and Edward IV, was fought, according to various sources, sometime between 1462 and 1464, but an official source, the Year Book de Termino Paschae, 4 Ed.IV, which describes the site, gives the exact date of the battle as 15th May 1464.
The site as marked by the OS is described by an early writer (J H Ramsey)(c) as being '...a very bad battlefield with one entrance and no outlet', and it is hardly possible that this is the correct scene of the battle; instead it seems that Swallowship Hill, which is described by the writers T C Anstey and J Gibson (a), and also suits the description of Worcester and the Year Book, is tactically the far superior and more probably the correct site.
Circa 1778 it was reported that the battle happened at a place called Lennolds... and that the lines of entrenchment are still to be seen (b). (2)
The lines of entrenchment (b) are possibly the old river banks at NY 956622. There is nothing to be seen either at the OS site (1) or at Swallowship Hill. (3)
Hedley thinks the battle took place to the north east, on the lower ground around Dilston [NY 9763]. (4)
'Three weeks later they [the Lancastrians] had collected their last levies, and Somerset had assumed command. On May 15th [1464] they were arrayed on the Linnels, three miles from Hexham, and challenged Montagu to another fight. But when he closed with them, and they saw his superior numbers, all melted away from Somerset's banner, save 500 lances.' (5)
Montagu reportedly had an advantage of 8 to 1 according to one chronicler, which led Somerset's force to 'quickly give way to panic and flight'. (6)
The Lancastrian army, commanded by the Duke of Somerset, encamped at Hexham Levels, 2 miles south of the town. The levels is a flat field c.600yds square in a steeply sided and heavily wooded valley. The Yorkists under Lord Montague arrived on high ground to the east of the Lancastrians on 8th May [1464]. Montague charged and shattered the Lancastrians, though many escaped. Somerset was captured in a house near to where Duke's House stands today [NY 95356305]. Traces of the foundations of the 1464 house are visible. Somerset was executed in Hexham and buried in the Abbey grounds. (7)
Additional bibliography. (8)
Additional possible site near Shaws Farm grid ref - 392092-564721 (9a)
At the end of 1463 the Duke of Somerset returned to the Lancastrian faction and set in train a more agressive policy of consolidating support for King Henry VI on the margins of the kingdom, in Northumberland and Wales. He faced the Yorkists in a pitched battle, only to suffer defeat at the hands of Lord Montagu at Hedgley Moor on 25 April 1464. Nevertheless, the premature departure from the field of all but Sir Ralph Percy's contingent ensured that the majority of the small Lancastrian army was preserved intact. After retreating to Tynedale, Somerset prepared to challenge Montagu once again. The Lancastrians camped near Hexham, inviting attack. On 14 May, a 4,000 strong Yorkist army left Newcastle-upon-Tyne to give battle the following day. It is hard to distinguish where the battle took place and the nature of the battle as written sources for the battle are scanty and do not tell us a great deal. Four sites have been put forward as the battlefield. The traditional location is on the Hexham Levels whilst the second location offered is Swallowship Hill, further sites near Dilston and Shaw farm to the NW of Hexham. In addition, documentary sources also offer conflicting views on the nature of the battle. One source accounts for a battle which was keenly contested whilst a second source states that the Lancastrians fled as soon as they saw the enemy. However, what is certain is that the Lancastrians, again, suffered defeat at the hands of Lord Montagu's Yorkist army. Most of the Lancastrian leaders were taken and the Yorkists' executioners dispatched Somerset, Roos and Hungerford. The Battle of Hexham brought to a close a clear phase of the Wars of the Roses. The partisans of the House of Lancaster by themselves lost the ability to challenge the rule of King Edward IV.
[NY 96076210] The Battle of Hexham which brought to an end the four year warfare between Henry VI and Edward IV, was fought, according to various sources, sometime between 1462 and 1464, but an official source, the Year Book de Termino Paschae, 4 Ed.IV, which describes the site, gives the exact date of the battle as 15th May 1464.
The site as marked by the OS is described by an early writer (J H Ramsey)(c) as being '...a very bad battlefield with one entrance and no outlet', and it is hardly possible that this is the correct scene of the battle; instead it seems that Swallowship Hill, which is described by the writers T C Anstey and J Gibson (a), and also suits the description of Worcester and the Year Book, is tactically the far superior and more probably the correct site.
Circa 1778 it was reported that the battle happened at a place called Lennolds... and that the lines of entrenchment are still to be seen (b). (2)
The lines of entrenchment (b) are possibly the old river banks at NY 956622. There is nothing to be seen either at the OS site (1) or at Swallowship Hill. (3)
Hedley thinks the battle took place to the north east, on the lower ground around Dilston [NY 9763]. (4)
'Three weeks later they [the Lancastrians] had collected their last levies, and Somerset had assumed command. On May 15th [1464] they were arrayed on the Linnels, three miles from Hexham, and challenged Montagu to another fight. But when he closed with them, and they saw his superior numbers, all melted away from Somerset's banner, save 500 lances.' (5)
Montagu reportedly had an advantage of 8 to 1 according to one chronicler, which led Somerset's force to 'quickly give way to panic and flight'. (6)
The Lancastrian army, commanded by the Duke of Somerset, encamped at Hexham Levels, 2 miles south of the town. The levels is a flat field c.600yds square in a steeply sided and heavily wooded valley. The Yorkists under Lord Montague arrived on high ground to the east of the Lancastrians on 8th May [1464]. Montague charged and shattered the Lancastrians, though many escaped. Somerset was captured in a house near to where Duke's House stands today [NY 95356305]. Traces of the foundations of the 1464 house are visible. Somerset was executed in Hexham and buried in the Abbey grounds. (7)
Additional bibliography. (8)
Additional possible site near Shaws Farm grid ref - 392092-564721 (9a)
N9025
MEASURED SURVEY, NHPP Battlefields Project ; English Heritage
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