Halidon Hill

The Battle of Halidon Hill took place on 19 July 1333 when a Scottish army under Sir Archibald Douglas attacked an English army commanded by King Edward III of England (r. 1327–1377) and was heavily defeated. The year before, Edward Balliol had seized the Scottish Crown from five-year-old David II (r. 1329–1371), surreptitiously supported by Edward III. This marked the start of the Second War of Scottish Independence. Balliol was shortly expelled from Scotland by a popular uprising, which Edward III used as a casus belli, invading Scotland in 1333. The immediate target was the strategically-important border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which the English besieged in March. A large Scottish army advanced to relieve the town. They attempted and failed to draw the English away from Berwick. By mid-July, knowing Berwick was on the verge of surrender and aware they were much stronger than the English, the Scots attacked. They unsuccessfully manoeuvred for position and then launched an assault on the English, who had taken up a favourable defensive position. English longbowmen caused heavy Scottish casualties during their approach, and when the Scots came into contact with the English infantry, the fight was short. The Scottish formations collapsed and the Scots fled in disorder. The English men-at-arms mounted and pursued the Scots for 8 miles (13 km), causing further heavy casualties. The Scottish commander and many of the Scots' senior nobility were killed during the battle. Berwick surrendered on terms the next day. Balliol was reinstalled as king of Scotland after ceding much of his territory to Edward III and agreeing to do homage for the balance. Balliol's opponents would not admit defeat and he was deposed again in 1334, restored in 1335 and deposed once again in 1336. In 1337 the Hundred Years' War broke out between France and England which allowed David II to consolidate his position in Scotland. In 1346 the Scots were decisively beaten at the Battle of Neville's Cross with heavy loss and David was captured. It was eleven years before terms were agreed for David's release. They included an Anglo-Scottish truce, which lasted for four decades and marked the end of the Second War of Scottish Independence.

The Liberties of Berwick are coterminous with the parish of Holy Trinity and St. Mary. They comprise the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed and a rural area to the north and west. For several centuries the Bounds of the liberties have been ridden on horseback each year on May Day. The liberties and Berwick parish do not encompass the suburbs of Berwick on the south bank of the Tweed, which are contained in the separate parishes of Spittal and Tweedmouth. The population in 2011 was 4.500. After Scotland acquired the area in 1020, Berwick became the chief town of the country between Northumberland and the Firth of Forth and grew into a great seaport, becoming one of the four major royal burghs of Scotland. Coveted by England, it was seized during the disputed succession to the Scottish throne after the demise of Alexander III and was thenceforth the object of jealousy and subject to various seizures and negotiated transfers. The Liberties of Berwick were relinquished by Scotland in 1482 and by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 became part of the county of Northumberland.

Lamberton is a hilly, former landed estate in Berwickshire, Scotland, its eastern boundary being the North Sea. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Berwick-upon-Tweed, on the Great North Road (today the A1).

Marshall Meadows House is a Georgian mansion and the most northerly hotel in England, located north of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, in northeastern England. Currently trading as Marshall Meadows Manor House, the hotel is set in 15 acres (6.1 ha) of grounds only 275 metres (902 ft) from the border with Scotland.

Lamberton Castle was a castle located at Lamberton, in Scottish Borders, Scotland. The castle was a stronghold of the Lindsay family. It was the caput of the Barony of Lamberton. Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford during an expedition in 1544, destroyed the castle. No remains of the castle exist above ground.

Low Cocklaw is a small hamlet about 3 miles (5 km) west of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. Until the early 1980s it was a working farm but is now entirely residential. It is surrounded by rolling farmland which is dominated by cereal growing.

Whiteadder Water is a river in East Lothian and Berwickshire, Scotland. It also flows for a very short distance through Northumberland before joining the River Tweed. In common with the headwaters of the Biel Water it rises on the low hillside of Clints Dod (122 m or 400 ft) in the Lammermuir Hills, just ESE of Whitecastle Hillfort and 3 km (1.9 mi) south-east of the village of Garvald.

Marshall Meadows Bay is a small bay located on the Northumberland coast, England, 2+1⁄2 miles (4 kilometres) north of Berwick-upon-Tweed Just to the north of the bay lies the Anglo-Scottish border and the northernmost point of England. Across the border in Scotland is the county of Berwickshire in the Borders region. The hamlet of Marshall Meadows lies to the west of the bay, and is the most northerly inhabited place in England. The Marshall Meadows Manor House Hotel is here, along with a farm and a caravan site. There is a disused tunnel from the caravan site to the bay below, and there is a small cave 300 m (1,000 ft) north of this tunnel, plus another small cave just around the corner of Marshall Meadows Point. Nearby is the A1 trunk road and the East Coast Main Line railway. The Berwickshire Coastal Path from Berwick to Eyemouth runs along the clifftop at Marshall Meadows Bay. The cliffs are about fifty metres high. Borders Buses operates a regular service between Berwick and St Abbs stopping at New East Farm, a short walk from Marshall Meadows Bay.

Mordington is an agricultural parish in the extreme south-east of Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders region. It is five miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed and borders Northumberland to the east, and south (where the boundary is the Whiteadder Water), Foulden to the west, and Lamberton to the north. The parish is bisected by the A6105 Berwick to Duns road. The lower part of the parish is covered by the Edrington estate. It is possibly the warmest parish in Scotland; the annual hours of sunshine are said to be almost as high as at Dunbar, which records the most hours in Scotland.

Lamberton Skerrs is towards the southernmost point on the east coast of Scotland. It was the scene of a building known as the "Smuggler's Bothy" which was built by the famous smuggler John Robertson in about 1760 and stands on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea. He smuggled tea and was in partnership with a Swedish shipping line. The cover for the operation was fishing but the building was actually later used as a fishery cottage. It was eventually destroyed by vandals who set it alight. A rusted net winch and storage caves built into the rocks are all that remains of the fishery. The East Coast Main Line railway runs right by the location before passing over the border at Marshall Meadows Bay and stopping at Berwick-Upon-Tweed.

Clappers is a small village in Scottish Borders, Scotland, located right next to the border with England. There is a small monument commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in the village.

Middle Ord is a small hamlet, between West Ord and East Ord, and west of the town of Berwick upon Tweed, Northumberland England. The population as of March 2008, is nineteen residents within seven dwellings, centered on Middle Ord Manor House.