A new bid to uncover one of the Britain’s most famous battlegrounds is to be screened on national television.
Some 700 years after one of the most significant conflicts in British history, Neil Oliver, host of BBC programme Coast and Tony Pollard have set off in pursuit of both the real and imagined Battle of Bannockburn.
The Quest for Bannockburn aims to use archaeological finds to shed new light on just how Robert the Bruce achieved one of the most incredible victories in history.
With the help of the country’s greatest minds, 3D computer-generated graphics and a good old-fashioned spade, the intrepid pair chart the battle’s final, nail-biting 48 hours and recreate the landscape and environment which determined this seismic moment in British history.
In the process, they hope to discover the battle’s true location.
By June 23 1314, the English army was in sight of Stirling Castle. If Edward II did not relieve the besieged castle by the following day, the Commander had agreed, in a pact with Bruce, he would surrender it to the Scots.
Strategically, Stirling was of vital importance to the English. It was the key to the Kingdom of Scotland and Edward II was determined the castle (and Scotland) would remain in his hands.
Just to the south west of Stirling, wedged between the M9 motorway and the edge of town lies the “New Park”. This small hill stands just above a stream called “the Bannockburn”. Most visitors believe this to be the location where Bruce’s army attacked Edward’s, to prevent him reaching Stirling Castle.
After years of preparation, locating the actual site will be one of Neil and Tony’s biggest archaeological challenges.
Tony is calling upon expertise from the Centre for the Battlefield Archaeology in Glasgow. He is the department’s head and the unit leads the world in the field of battlefield and conflict archaeology. The project will start by enlisting the help of environmental historian Richard Tipping, who argues that the impact of rapid climate change had dramatically changed the landscape around Stirling by 1314.
So as well as trying to locate the battlefield, Tony and Neil will also be asking if the favoured English strategy of cavalry-driven warfare failed because climate change had transformed the battlefield into the “evil, deep wet marsh” described by contemporary records.
A 3D landscape commissioned by the National Trust For Scotland will be generated in an attempt to help the team understand how the landscape and river systems had changed by 1314.
The pair are looking for one clue in particular the location of the “Great Ditch” into which the English troops fell and perished.