The Battle of Neville's Cross - 1,000 men killed in a Scottish invasion a stone's throw from Durham city centre

It was named after a stone Anglo-Saxon cross that stood on the nearby hill.

It was pretty spectacular stuff. Today it would have been subject to an eight-page (at least) pull-out in this paper. But then, as now, it was eclipsed by even bigger battles. Most people have never heard of it.

But that doesn’t lessen its significance.

It was fought between the forces of Scotland, then under the rule of King David II, and those of England Reserves, during the reign of the tough-nut monarch King Edward III.

Spoiler alert. England won easily, despite their first team being away in France and being significantly outnumbered.

Edward III

Edward is a king who really ought to be one of English history’s superstars; like Richard the Lionheart, or Henry VIII.

He came to the throne in 1327 aged just 14 after his mother and her boyfriend, Roger Mortimer, had booted out his useless dad, Edward II. He would reign for 50 years.

Edward founded the Order of the Garter (when it was worth joining), was instrumental in forwarding the English language, sorted out England's coinage and was generally loved.

He wasn’t a bully, like his granddad Edward I. But he didn’t mind a good dust-up either. He started the Hundred Years War (so-called because it lasted 116 years), but manipulated matters so that all the battles were fought in France.

This made sure the French were kept out of England, thereby protecting his realm and delaying the introduction of garlic by several centuries.

But he couldn’t do that with the Scots.

Background to the battle

Just seven weeks before Neville’s Cross, Edward led the English to a seemingly impossible victory at Crécy in north-east France – a far more famous battle.

Before Crécy, this had been unthinkable. The English were both enormously outnumbered and supposedly in need of a lie-in after all that travelling. Think of Hartlepool United playing away at Liverpool, but with only nine players and having walked to Anfield.

However, this didn’t account for the superiority of the English longbow over the French crossbow. Longbows could be loaded much quicker and their arrows could pierce armour.

After Crécy the English turned their attention to the Siege of Calais, which took away men and resources, but would be another success. They were in good form.

However, French gaffer Philip VI was doing le nut.

The best he could hope for now was that the Scots, with their understandable habit of siding with the French against the English under the Auld Alliance, would invade northern England and force Edward to reduce his presence in France. David II and his lads were on their way to County Durham.

The Scots rampaged their way down to Neville’s Cross, notably at Hexham Abbey. Their forays into Blackpool almost 700 years later were as nothing compared to this.

They were looting and pillaging with glorious abandon, particularly at Ryton. In those days, looting was considered to be just not the same without a spot of pillaging to go with it.

The battle

On the eve of the battle the Scots camped at what is now Bearpark. They had to. England would not see a Travelodge until the 1980s.

The most commonly given figure for the number of Scottish soldiers at the battle is 12,000. Estimates for the English vary. But although they were outnumbered by the opposition, there were far more of them than David had anticipated. Oops.

Edward was still in France but his wife, Queen Philippa, put the Archbishop of York WIlliam Zouche in charge. The clergyman was equally versed in the art of loafing people on the battlefield as he was in scripture.

The battle took place where the junction of the A690 and A167 now lies. Had it happened today, you would have had a pretty good view of the action from either the Antico Italian restaurant, or Curlz Hairdressers. However, historians agree that neither establishment was trading at the time.

The Scots were hampered by the terrain they stood on, which was rather bobbly and made it difficult to negotiate on either steed or foot. They were obliterated by the English longbows.

As the arrows of the home side did their stuff and defeat became inevitable, a number of Scots legged it. Among them was David’s nephew, the future Robert II (not the Bruce, he was earlier). It was all over.

Aftermath

The Battle of Neville’s Cross was a disaster for the Scots. It meant they wouldn’t qualify for Europe, or at least the Hundred Years War, for the foreseeable future.

No one can be sure, but at least 1,000 Scots are thought to have been killed, with about twice that number captured, although in the 14th century away casualties did not count double.

Although David II had personally fought bravely, the whole affair got right up his nose. Literally. All he got for his trouble was an arrow through the hooter, which must have smarted a bit.

He would also serve 11 years clink in the Tower of London. He was released in 1357, in exchange for a whopping great ransom.

Edward III now had a free hand to keep on duffing up the French. For a while he could also do pretty much whatever he pleased in Scotland too. But there was Anglo-Scottish peace for a few years.

The battle was a more significant moment in British and European history than its low historical profile would suggest.

Indeed, when you go to Neville’s Cross today there is very little sign that anything ever happened.