Otterburn, Northumberland

Otterburn is a small village in Northumberland on the banks of the River Rede close to the confluence with the Otter Burn.
It is well known for a number of reasons.

Historically it is associated with the Battle of Otterburn and of course it is in the centre of Border Reiver lands

It is the site of Otterburn Mill. This Mill was built to work with the local wool which was and still is an important industry for the area. There is some evidence that the mill dates back to the 15th century. however little is known prior to the 1820's. The Mill grew and prospered until the late 1960's when a lack of funds to invest started a decline until manufacturing ceased in 1976. The Mill was eventually sold to the Pringle family.

Then there is Otterburn tower a fortified Northumbrian country house which was founded by a cousin of
William the Conqueror in 1086.It is now a quality hotel, restaurant and wedding venue.

Near to Otterburn are the large ministry of defence lands and of course the historic medieval village of Elsdon.

Useful links include

Our blog entries for Elsdon.

Wikipedia for Otterburn


Otterburn tower

and of course the Mill


Northumbria byways are happy to offer the Drovers rest as the ideal cottage to explore the area.

The Battle of Otterburn, 19th August 1388

Carrying on with David Clark's excellent book on touring northern battlefields
( Battlefield walks, pub.Grange books) it's the turn of Otterburn.

We pass through the village when taking the northern route from Cumbria over to north Northumberland, so it's familiar to us...but as a battlefield?

Anyway...the history first.

Two key points

1.In Scotland there were the Douglas's and south of the border the Percy's.

2.There was pressure from the Scottish crown to continue the border wars....and not surprisingly the offer was gratefully accepted and the raiding continued.

The Douglas's had been as far south as Durham, tried to capture Newcastle on their way back and were by all accounts more than ready to tackle the Percy's when they caught up with the Scottish raiders.

The battle itself has several interesting notes.

When the English attacked they found the camp full of non combatants. These they set about killing and the main Scoys army gained valuable time to regroup.Interestingly it has been suggested that Douglas left his non combatants in that place to serve such a purpose.

The main fighting was by moonlight which hindered the arrival of the Umfraville party which had been sent out to outflank the Scots.

Anyway....Douglas was killed, Percy captured and the Scots won the day.
It wouln't be until Homildon Hill in 1402 that the Percy's had their revenge.

This is the wikimapia view of the battleground


Here is Percy's cross , the memorial






And here is the map




See also our blog on the Battle of Hexham.