The Battles
The Battle of Hexham
15th May 1464
Result of the Battle – Yorkist victory
Lord Montagu, having delivered the Scottish ambassadors to York, rode north to Newcastle to face Somerset who had re-grouped following the debacle at Hedgeley. Stopping briefly at Newcastle, Montagu left the city and headed west along the river Tyne towards Hexham, probably crossing at either Bywell or Corbridge.
Somerset, with a much smaller host than Montagu, chose his ground above the burn known as Devil’s Water. This was probably in the Dilston area and possibly close to Swallowship Hill although the Ordnance Survey map offers an alternative site. It appears that the battle was brief, with the Lancastrians giving way to the superior forces of Montagu. Somerset was captured and executed the next day at Hexham and his captains, the lords Roos and Hungerford, a day or so later.
This was the end of any serious Lancastrian resistance and King Edward IV could now rule his entire kingdom.
Further Reading
- ‘The Battle of Hexham 1464’ by Dorothy Charlesworth in Archaeologia Aeliana, 4th Series, Vol 30, 1952.
- The Battle of Hexham in its place by J. Sadler and A. Spiers, Ergo Press, 2007.