A 400 years conflict from Edward I until the Union between England and Scotland in 1707, the Northumberland borders was the arena of one of the longest war in the the world.

Border families, known as Reivers fought endlessly raiding back and forth across the border. As a result there are now more castles and bastles (fortified farm buildings) and peel towers in Northumberland than anywhere else in Britain.  

Malcolm III a Scots king unhappy with William Rufus William the Conqueror's son, was killed by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland during a raiding party. A cross to Malcolm at the spot where he fell was erected one mile north of Alnwick.

Carham near Cornhill - 1018   Significantly  won by the Scots, it established the Tweed River as the border line curtailing Northumberland which had reached Edinburgh. Malcolm III a Scots king unhappy with William Rufus William the Conqueror's son, was killed by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland during a raiding party. A cross to Malcolm at the spot where he fell was erected one mile north of Alnwick.

Halidon Hill  Berwick – 1333     The Scots defeated here during the long struggle for the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed which was finally settled by the English capture of the town in 1482.

Otterburn (1388)    A moonlit battle fought between Harry Hotspur and a Scots raiding party led by Earl Douglas, is documented in the border tale of the Battle of Chevy Chase. The Scots won but their leader was killed, Hotspur was held for ransom after the battle. A car park 1 mile north west of Otterburn is the battle site marked by Percy's Cross memorial.

Humbleton Hill (1402)   Hotspur after his release sort revenge defeating the new Earl Douglas and his massive army, on a rounded hill to the west of the town of Wooler. News of the battle is mentioned in the opening scenes of Shakespeare's play Henry IV

Hedgeley Moor (1464)   Sir Ralph Percy was defeated by the House of York in this "Wars of the Roses" battle. The English civil war between the House of Lancaster the red rose and the House of York the white rose was fought to produce a King for England. The battle site is north of Powburn. Two stones, 10 metres apart, mark Percy's Leap, the distance reputedly covered by Percy's horse as he died.

Hexham (1464)    Directly after Hedgeley Moor, the Lancastrian forces were finally defeated near Devil's Water, to the south of Hexham, bringing the four year war between the kings Henry VI of Lancaster and Edward IV of York followed shortly after when the Lancastrian fortress of Dunstanburgh Castle also fell to Edward IV.

Flodden (1513)  In the Auld Alliance with France, King James IV of Scotland would attack England to draw Henry VIII’s troops from his French battlefield, unfortunately the English army won at Flodden in the bloodiest battle in Northumberland. The Scots King fell with the majority of the Scottish noblemen, there is a monument erected in 1910 over looking the battlefield north of Wooler near the village of Branxton.