Whilst searching for a house D and I were near Flodden Field, so of course we just had to go and have a look at it. Flodden Field is near the village of Branxton in Northumberland, a peaceful setting now, but nearly five hundred years ago this was the site of the most famous battles in the borders between the kings of England and Scotland – the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513. It was disastrous for the Scots when their King, James IV was killed.
An information board in the little car park next to the field gives many details of the battle.
The field is on a hill overlooking Branxton and there is a steep climb up to the monument. In 1513 the battleground was an undrained boggy morass in which the Scottish troops were knee-deep in mud with more troops coming down the hill behind them, whereas the English troops were on the higher ground with room to manoeuvre.
At the top of the hill there is a monument and wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.
Below is the village of Branxton.
The wider scene
I haven’t read Flodden 1513: Scotland’s Greatest Defeat Campaign by John Sadler and Stephen Walsh but I think it looks interesting. If you look at it on Amazon you can read a few pages of the opening chapter: The Origins of the Campaign.
BooksPlease 
And it looks so peaceful now.
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It does look peaceful now. Thank you for the photos!
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I love it when names from history suddenly become real places and you an stand and feel the presence of all that has gone before. I’ve just been reading your comments on Danielle’s blog about the presence of a house. I rarely feel that, but outdoor sites where great things have happened are different. I can sit there and soak up the atmosphere for hours. I know almost nothing about Flodden. Back to the library!
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Lillian and Carrie it was a very peaceful place, although knowing what had happened there, even though it was 500 years ago, it had a chilling feeling – maybe that was the wind though!
TT, I love being in places where such things happened. We didn’t have much time here though as we had an appointment to view a house nearby. I ran up the field to look around and stood imagining what it must have been like in the past – and then ran back down, completely out of breath.
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