The project will bring together communities of the Scottish and Northumbrian border areas in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden 1513. The project will last over a four year duration to ensure that legacy is created beyond the actual commemoration events in 2013.

Lord Joicey of Ford & Etal Estates, on whose land the battle site is mostly located and who is a director of the Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum, added: “It is wonderful that the Heritage Lottery Fund has agreed to support the application by the Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum to ensure that Flodden not only reaches a wide audience amongst schoolchildren, amateur researchers and all those who want to increase their skills in archaeology and palaeography but also to build up the geographical and cultural connections through enlarging the Ecomuseum itself. The significance of Flodden in the story of our nations is too often overlooked.”

Ivor Crowther, Head of HLF North East, said: “Flodden 500 is an important opportunity to mark the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden. With the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the site will be opened up much more widely to encourage dialogue about this historic battle and how it has impacted communities from both sides of the Borders. We’re particularly supportive of plans to deliver a community archaeology programme which will get people enthused and involved with their local heritage.”

The battle of Flodden was fought on 9th September 1513 on the border between England and Scotland. It was the last of the bloody medieval battles, and the last occasion on which a monarch of the British Isles was killed on the field of battle. The death of James IV of Scotland and the majority of the Scottish nobility at the hands of the Earl of Surrey’s English army was a cataclysmic event for Scotland. Its outcome influenced the course of history with the Union of the Crowns between Scotland and England occurring less than 100 years later. The project focuses not just on the tens of thousands of lives lost during the campaign but also the impact the battle had on the culture of today’s border communities. 

Flodden 500 comprises a suite that will create learning, participation and volunteering opportunities for people to get involved in all aspects of Flodden heritage. A Flodden Discovery Programme will include activities such as: archaeological excavations; surveying, geophysics and metal detecting; and transcribing and interpreting 16th Century documents. An informative travelling exhibition will tour the area and Scottish Borders Museums are curating two local exhibitions. Education officers will be employed to run a school and site-based learning programme raising awareness and understanding of this nationally significant battle. Tool kits, loan boxes and on-line resources will be developed as well as utilising practical learning experiences such as real-life archaeological digs.

The plans also intend to increase the number of physical sites of the Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum. New sites, all with intimate Flodden connection, will be added, expanding the network and our knowledge and understanding of the wide-reaching effects of the battle.

Church representatives from both sides of the border and from all Christian denominations have been invited to organise a special commemoration event to mark the 500th anniversary. This event will be open to all so that we may collectively pay our respects to the events of the past.

Notes to editors

Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum Ltd is a not-for-profit company established to coordinate the heritage and legacy of the Battle of Flodden as well as mark its quincentenary in 2013. An ecomuseum offers a new perspective on how to interpret ‘heritage and association of place’. It is a concept which allows the interconnection of sites or projects which are associated to a central theme or story and does so without claiming central ownership or control. It is a sustainable museum- created, owned and directed by its community- the Flodden community. Flodden 1513 museum website.

Further information

Katie Owen, HLF press office on 020 7591 6036 or 07973 613 820.

Kendra Turnbull, PA to the Committee of the Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum on 01289 330 064 / 07771 687 249 or Flodden1513@gmail.com.

Lord Joicey, Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum Ltd on 01890 820 224 or joicey@ford-and-etal.co.uk.