Battle of Otterburn Memorial in Otterburn, England

The Battle of Otterburn took place between the English and the Scots in 1388 , at a time when Scotland and England were regularly involved in conflict. It took place between the forces of the Earl of Douglas and Earl of Murray (Scots) and the forces of the Earl of Westmorland and Earl of Northumberland (English) including Northumberland's two sons, Harry Hotspur and Sir Ralph Percy, who were directly in charge of the English forces. The Scots won a famous victory and Harry Hotspur was captured (and later ransomed). It is reported that just over 1000 English were captured and nearly 2000 killed whereas 200 Scots were captured and 100 were killed. The original memorial was called the "Battle Stone" and by the late 18th century it had deteriorated to the extent that in 1777 the then Duke of Northumberland (direct descendant of the Earl of Northumberland whose forces took part in the battle) wanted to erect a new monument. The landowner (Henry Ellison) at the time was suspicious that Percy might later try to make a claim to the ground so he opted to build a monument himself. He used the stone from the original pedestal but for the vertical column he re-used an old piece of stone from over the fireplace at Otterburn Hall. The stone still carries the old iron hooks which were used as pot hangers when the fire was used for cooking. The monument and some interesting information boards stand in a small wooded area just off the A696 road (previously the Otterburn turnpike).