The siege of Berwick lasted four months in 1333 and resulted in the Scottish-held town of Berwick-upon-Tweed being captured by an English army commanded by King Edward III (r. 1327–1377).

After unsuccessfully manoeuvring for position and knowing that Berwick was on the verge of surrender, the Scots felt compelled to attack the English at Halidon Hill on 19 July.

Balliol was reinstalled as king of Scotland after ceding a large part of his territory to Edward III and agreeing to do homage for the balance.

[1] After 30 years of warfare that followed, the newly crowned 14-year-old King Edward III was nearly captured in the English disaster at Stanhope Park.

In 1331, under the leadership of Edward Balliol and Henry Beaumont, 4th Earl of Buchan, the disinherited Scottish nobles gathered in Yorkshire and plotted an invasion of Scotland.

[3] Almost immediately, Balliol granted Edward III Scottish estates to a value of £2,000, which included "the town, castle and county of Berwick".

[7][8] Berwick, on the North Sea coast of Britain, is on the Anglo-Scottish border, astride the main invasion and trade route in either direction.

[9] According to William Edington, a bishop and chancellor of England, Berwick was "so populous and of such commercial importance that it might rightly be called another Alexandria, whose riches were the sea and the water its walls".

[10] It was the most successful trading town in Scotland, and the duty on wool which passed through it was the Scottish Crown's largest single source of income.

[17] At the beginning of 1333, the atmosphere on the border was tense;[18] Edward III had dropped all pretence of neutrality, recognised Balliol as king of Scotland and was making ready for war.

Edward III promised to discuss the matter with both Pope John XXII and King Philip VI of France (r. 1328–1350).

[31] The army included troops raised in the Welsh Marches and the Midlands, as well as levies from the north which had already mustered on account of the earlier Scottish raids.

By the end of the month, this force had been augmented by noble retinues, a muster at Newcastle, and the assembly of the English fleet in the River Tyne.

[32] Douglas had assembled a large army north of the border but his inactivity contrasts sharply with Robert Bruce's swift response to the siege of 1319.

[35] The success of Edward III's propaganda is reflected in contemporaneous English chronicles, which portray his invasion as retaliation against Scottish incursions, ... propter incursiones Scotorum cum incendijs ac multas alias illatas iniurias regno Anglie (... on account of the incursions of the Scots and the many injuries so inflicted on the realm of England).

[18][37] The English used some form of firearms during the siege and modern historian Ranald Nicholson states that Berwick was probably "the first town in the British Isles to be bombarded by cannon".

[38] In late June, the defenders set adrift burning brushwood soaked in tar, in an attempt to repel a naval assault.

[41] By the end of June the attacks by land and sea had brought the town to a state of ruin and the garrison close to exhaustion.

[18][37][note 2] It is believed that a desire for a respite from the plunging fire of the two large counterweight trebuchets used by the English was a significant factor in Seton requesting a short truce from King Edward.

The town was to be returned to English soil and law but the inhabitants were to be allowed to leave, with their goods and chattels, under a safe conduct from Edward III.

[18] He positioned the English army on Halidon Hill, a small rise of some 600 feet (180 metres), 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north-west of Berwick, which gives an excellent view of the town and the vicinity.

From this vantage point, he dominated the crossing of the Tweed specified in the indentures and would have been able to attack the flank of any force of men-at-arms attempting to enter Berwick.

[48] Crossing the Tweed to the west of the English position, the Scottish army reached the town of Duns, 15 miles (24 km) from Berwick, on 18 July.

[51] On the following day it approached Halidon Hill from the north-west, ready to give battle on ground chosen by Edward III.

[18] Edward III had to face the Scottish army to the front and guard his rear against the risk of a sortie by the garrison of Berwick.

[52][53] To engage the English, the Scots had to advance downhill, cross a large area of marshy ground and then climb the northern slope of Halidon Hill.

The survivors continued upwards, through the arrows "as thick as motes in a sun beam", according to an unnamed contemporary quoted by Nicholson,[59] and on to the waiting spears.

[59] The Scottish army broke, the camp followers made off with the horses and the fugitives were pursued by the mounted English knights.

[18][64] After the capitulation of Berwick, Edward III appointed Henry Percy as Constable, with Sir Thomas Grey as his deputy.

Berwick was to remain the military and political headquarters of the English on the border until 1461, when it was returned to the Scots by King Henry VI (r. 1422–1461).