Day Two The Quest For Bannockburn

700 years ago, in June, 1314,

two armies clashed here, just to the south of Stirling.

It's the site of Scotland's

most famous, and iconic, battle against the English...

Bannockburn.

Just down there is a statue of the man who led the Scots

to victory. Against all the odds,

Robert the Bruce fought off the English in an epic two-day battle.

It was an almighty clash.

Bruce's spearmen, fighting for independence,

up against the mighty army of Edward II,

intent on suppressing, once and for all, the unruly northern neighbour.

No-one has ever managed to precisely locate the battlefield

and that's the quest that we've set ourselves.

Together with a team of the country's

most experienced archaeologists,

we're going to search for evidence of this elusive battle.

We'll call on the help of the British Army,

and the local people of Bannockburn, to help track down the site.

And we also want to find out just how Robert the Bruce was able

to secure a victory over one of the most effective fighting forces

in the whole of the medieval world.

An army of experienced combat fighters,

combined with a visual effects team, will help us

understand how Robert the Bruce's army crushed the English.

-Look, there's the Bannockburn coming in.

-Right.

That's where 8,000 Scots and twice as many English

fought to the death. Hard to imagine today.

Dawn on Midsummer's Day.

Back in 1314, the English army, led by Edward II, had spent

a restless night on the plain near Stirling Castle...

..in anticipation of the next day's battle with the Scots army.

I've had nowhere near enough sleep, Neil.

When you're getting up at dawn, it's hardly worth going to bed.

No, I just feel rough.

I wonder how much sleep was actually had on the night in question.

Not much, if you're in your armour, I guess.

It must have been uncomfy.

It's funny to think about thousands of men,

and some women, all sleeping rough out here.

If you looked out across this landscape,

it would all have been little smudgy fires, wouldn't it?

Little beacons of hope.

Good, right. Battlefield won't find itself now, will it?

Nobody finds what we don't find, Neil.

No, not the way we don't find it.

The Battle of Bannockburn was fought over two days.

On day one, the English army, led by Edward II,

arrived on June 23, 1314.

Their goal was to relieve Stirling Castle,

which was the only major Scottish stronghold left in English hands.

But at stake that day was more than just a castle.

It was a battle to determine Scotland's status

as an independent kingdom and Robert the Bruce's right to rule it.

MEN SHOUTING

Standing in the way of Edward's army was the much smaller Scottish force.

But Robert the Bruce had prepared well. Positioned beside pits lined

with sharp wooden stakes, Bruce had trained his men to form schiltrons.

These medieval hedgehogs were large formations

of tightly-packed men armed with spears.

Impenetrable by cavalry,

Bruce's schiltrons held firm against the first English cavalry charge.

With the road to Stirling Castle blocked,

Edward's commanders were forced to find somewhere to camp that night.

The Battle of Bannockburn was one of the most important

battles fought on Scottish soil.

To understand how Bruce managed to crush Edward's superior forces

on day two, we need to find out where the two armies clashed.

But the exact location of the battle has never been found.

To help us track down the location,

we've come to the Bannockburn Visitors' Centre.

-Oh, look at that!

-It's amazing, isn't it?

Here, the National Trust for Scotland have turned back

the clock and created a historically-accurate map

of Stirling's landscape at the time of the battle.

So, we're now back in 1314.

So, by the end of the first day, what is the situation?

Well, the English have come up from the south, along the Roman Road,

heading toward the castle, which they are trying to relieve the siege of.

The English have failed to break through along the road.

With the direct route to Stirling Castle blocked,

Edward's army was forced to turn east

towards a big, flat plain, called The Carse.

Here, he decided to camp for the night

and prepared for battle the next day.

So, the sun rises on the second day and that's the battle -

the full-scale clash.

The question is, where did that battle take place?

What do the chronicles offer,

in terms of clues about the location of the big battle?

Well, we've got four of the accounts. Barbour's The Bruce which is

the epic poem about the life of Robert Bruce, a Scottish source.

We've got the Scalacronica,

the eyewitness account of an English knight captured by the Scots,

but written from the Scottish perspective, really.

We have the Chronicle of Lanercost,

from the Abbey in the north of England, So, an English account.

And then we've got the biography of Edward II,

so again, obviously, English.

And is there, as it were, common ground in the four chronicles

-saying where the fighting took place?

-Good question.

The Scalacronica, for instance, describes that flat plain as a deep,

wet, marsh, which would suggest rather unpleasant, altogether.

Whereas, the other accounts are perhaps a little kinder to it.

They describe it as a broad field and a dry field.

Now, the interesting thing is, if we are describing dry ground,

even today, this area of upland is traditionally known as the dry field.

So, unfortunately for us, the possibility that

brings about is that we've got two possible locations for the battle.

Either on the low ground or on the high ground.

It's really quite important, I think, that we settle the argument,

as to which one of those two it is.

From the air,

the two main contenders for the battlefield are clear to see.

Look at that landscape. You can see the real difference in the terrain.

You've got the higher ground,

the place they call the dry field, rising up there

and then the very low, flat ground of The Carse,

with the rivers running their way through it.

On the high ground is the dry field,

now the site of Bannockburn High School.

Down the wooded slope, east of the school's playing fields,

is The Carse - a huge open expanse of ground.

You've got Bruce on the high ground. He's definitely got

the guerrilla advantage up there, but if Edward brings his army

down here and backs off, he's got plenty of room for manoeuvre and he

can see what's happening. He can see if the Scots start to approach him.

Together, the high ground and The Carse

represent a huge area to search.

Archaeologists from the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology

at Glasgow University

will work alongside a team from the National Trust for Scotland

and metal-detecting groups from all over the country.

The search for Bannockburn will be meticulously carried out.

Because up until now,

no confirmed evidence of the battle has ever been found.

I don't see any spelling mistakes,

and we've got The Chuckle Brothers down at the bottom,

-OK, well, let's print it. Yep, great.

-OK.

But to cover the area thoroughly, we're going to need an army

of volunteers, to augment the professionals.

That's it. Lovely.

-OK, thanks a lot, Brian.

-Brilliant. OK, thanks now. Cheers.

-Bye-bye.

It's the morning of the big day,

and over 100 local recruits have arrived.

Our army of volunteers will investigate both the main candidates

for the location of the battle.

Today, we've set ourselves quite a stiff challenge.

We've got to be realistic. What we expect to find is not a great deal.

You won't find any of these.

No, unfortunately not.

What we're going to be looking for are, literally, bits and pieces,

of weaponry that may have been smashed in the battle,

fallen to the ground and not been picked up afterwards.

I hope you all have a good time and thank you very much for coming.

And, hopefully, you'll still have smiles on your faces

at five o'clock this evening. OK, thanks a lot.

Now, this is what you call a big dig.

'Some of our teams are digging up Braehead,

'the low-lying area on the edge of The Carse.'

Even as a Stirling local, that view of the castle from here

surprises me. I'm amazed by how close we are to the building.

It is dramatic, isn't it?

Check it out, Neil. Obviously in the right place.

Excellent stuff.

'Some Braehead residents have opened up their gardens to dig for clues.'

Now, that is the most full tray we've had so far.

You've got tonnes of stuff.

Hands up if you know when the battle was?

20,000 years ago.

20,000 years ago.

It sometimes feels like that.

Some promising objects ARE starting to emerge, though.

It looks early, doesn't it? It sure as heck ain't plant pot.

The thinner stuff is earlier than the thicker stuff.

That's thin, so that could quite easily be 14th-15th century.

-So, again, that could be of our period.

-Fantastic.

Well, that's the best and biggest so far, isn't it?

I've never seen so much of this stuff in the same place.

We've actually got, what you might call, quite a lot of this now.

-Yeah, there is a lot coming up.

-Thin, green glazed pottery of the period.

Our second search area, is half a mile away, up on the high ground,

near Bannockburn High School, which is known locally as the dry field.

On day one, Bruce had successfully defended his position

up here on the high ground, overlooking The Carse.

If the two armies met here on day two, Edward would have had to

march his whole army up the slope to engage the Scots.

But so far, there haven't been any significant finds here on

the high ground and, looking around, you can perhaps understand why.

There is a rather obvious natural barrier - Balquhidderock Wood.

Is there any way of knowing how much of a wood

-was here in the 14th century?

-There seems to be a feeling it was.

And that's the debate, isn't it? Though we can't see it from here,

that's a slope running down to The Carse.

And does the Scottish army move downhill onto The Carse, to meet

the English there, or do they let the English come up here?

And to my mind, that scenario just doesn't make sense.

Why would you let that happen?

You're not going to allow that, are you?

Well, you're going to lose the element of being the force taking

positive action, rather than just waiting on it to come to you.

Looking at the wood today, climbing this slope

with a full army looks impossible.

But were there trees on this spot 700 years ago?

While the digging continues, Tony is going to try and find out

if there are any references in the archives to Balquhidderock Wood.

John Harrison is a historian who's made a study of the local landscape.

This document is a title deed dated 1471, which describes

the countryside around Bannockburn at the time.

It's referring to land which lights up, "nemora de Balquhidderock" -

that is "under the wood, of Balquhidderock".

So, this is after the battle, and I think it's fairly clear

that much the same would have applied at the time of the battle.

So, the wood was there

and it would have been fairly difficult to move through?

Oh, for an army, completely impossible.

And, certainly, the Scots would have done all in their power

to make sure that they didn't.

The advantage of controlling the height would be tremendous.

And Robert the Bruce had to exploit every advantage

he could, as his army was seriously outnumbered.

The Scots footmen numbered 7,000,

while the English fielded at least 14,000 infantry and archers.

And the 500 Scottish light cavalry

faced 2,000 English knights on their much heavier warhorses.

It looks impenetrable, but could it have been done?

Let's find out if Edward's famous fully-laden cavalry

could ride up the hill to confront the Scots.

Kirsty McWilliam's horse stunt team is experienced at riding

in tricky terrain.

This is the hill that Edward would have had to climb

with all his horsemen in all their armour, if they were going

to fight the Battle of Bannockburn up on high ground at the top, there.

There would have been trees at the time. Probably not as many as this,

but what I'd like to see is how

you and Seamus manage getting up that slope.

-OK, yeah, we'll give it a go.

-Great.

-No problem.

So I'll leave you to pick your own way through

and stand out of the way.

At first, Kirsty's warhorse storms up the hill.

But when they reach the top part of the hill, they are forced to

slow down and pick their way through the branches and boggy ground.

Welcome to the high ground, Kirsty.

How was it?

Well, it was a little bit of a challenge, but...

And you're not even in armour.

No, I'm not in armour and I wouldn't want to be.

And the thing is, that if Edward was going to fight up here,

he'd have to come up from The Carse, up that slope, through the trees,

and he'd have to do it, not with one horse, but with about 2,000.

Yeah, it would be very difficult to keep any kind of formation

coming through there. You would have to pick your way through there.

Yeah, it seems so unlikely that Bruce and the Scottish army would just

sit back and let them do that.

And even if you led the horse up on foot,

you'd still be in armour and you've still got 2,000 horses.

And you'd be quite defenceless, if you were to become attacked.

Well done. Right, he looks as though he needs a run.

-I think he would.

-Well earned. OK.

So, if the English cavalry couldn't make it on to the high ground,

Bruce's foot soldiers must have descended through

Balquhidderock Wood and engaged the English somewhere on The Carse.

So, the testimony of the pottery,

although it doesn't necessarily place the battle there,

it would certainly suggest that it was a settled, habitable area.

Exactly, what those pottery finds from our big dig on The Carse

indicate, is that our dry, broad field might be The Carse

and not the high ground.

We've actually found nothing up there.

And so it would make sense that the place where the English force

is likely to have camped,

is also the place where the battle would have taken place.

It's very much looking like it.

For a start, why would they camp in a bog?

So, it looks very much as though that is our battlefield.

'To prove our theory, though, we will need to find more

'archaeological evidence from this part of The Carse.'

On the eve of the battle, the mood in the English camp was low.

Edward and his men had assumed they would be dining in Stirling Castle,

rather than sleeping rough on a midge-infested moor.

The men were exhausted and hungry.

According to the historical accounts,

rows soon broke out between the king and some of his commanders.

He ignored their pleas to let the men rest.

But Edward had a long history of not taking counsel from his nobles.

In fact, he'd rarely listened to them, since he was crowned.

I've crossed the border, to Cumberland, to find out

what had caused this rift between the nobles and the King of England.

Edward II has largely been written off by historians.

He's been described as one of the most unsuccessful kings

ever to rule England.

Whether he was, or whether he wasn't, needn't concern us.

What is important is that, in the years leading up to Bannockburn,

Robert the Bruce was able to exploit the civil war

that Edward was obliged to wage against his nobles.

Civil wars during the Middle Ages were two-a-penny,

but what made this one infamous was its cause...

..the controversial relationship between Edward II

and a minor noble, Piers Gaveston.

Piers Gaveston was exiled from the realm

because, as the Lanercost Chronicle records,

"of the improper familiarity which my Lord Edward the younger

"entertained with him, speaking of him openly as his brother."

This remarkable story is told in the Chronicle of Lanercost,

written here at the Lanercost Priory, south of Carlisle.

The chronicle tells how, after his father, Edward I, died,

Edward II recalled his friend from exile

and lavished many gifts of money, gold, titles and land on Gaveston.

Edward was a man born in the wrong time and he went too far.

He broke the codes of a society that might have tolerated his love

for a man, but that detested the man with whom he fell in love.

His relationship with Piers Gaveston infuriated the barons

and almost tore the kingdom apart.

The barons became so preoccupied with this upstart from France,

that 12 leading nobles got together

and drew up a long list of grievances against Edward.

Gosh, they do go on a bit, don't they?

Called The Ordinances.

The really important clause is this one about Piers de Gaveston.

What does it say about him?

It says that he is dreadful.

What were the ordainers particularly exercised about?

I think they were exercised above all by Piers Gaveston

and the problem that he presented

and the threat that he presented to royal patronage.

He was getting a lot of royal lands, he was sending treasure abroad to

Gascoigne. In general terms, he was effectively disinheriting the realm.

How did the saga of The Ordinances affect preparations for Scotland?

Bruce would have been well aware of this,

would have realised that Edward was in a difficult and weak position.

And that would have boosted, certainly, his morale.

He would have felt quite confident, I think.

Edward II grudgingly agreed to the main demand of the ordainers

and banished Gaveston from his kingdom.

But his absence proved too much for Edward to bear.

Three months later, Gaveston sneaked back in to England.

A fairly unusual way to enter a castle, is it not?

Extremely, yeah.

Edward put as much distance as he could

between the ordainers and his friend.

They came here, to Knaresborough Castle,

which Edward had given to Piers as a gift.

But, ironically, the only place Edward thought

Gaveston would be truly safe, was Scotland.

So, he tried to make a deal with Robert the Bruce.

How much do we know about Edward's attempts to gain

from Robert the Bruce promises relating to Gaveston's safety?

So, according to a contemporary chronicle,

called Vita Edwardi Secundi, which means The Life Of Edward II.

Edward made this quite incredible promise,

that he would recognise Robert Bruce as King of Scots

if Bruce would give Piers Gaveston refuge in Scotland.

This is absolutely amazing.

That means that his concern for his friend, was more important

to him, really, than the political situation regarding his kingdom?

Absolutely. This is a sign that Edward

was willing to do anything at all to protect Piers Gaveston.

In April 1312, the ordainers decided on military action. They formed

an alliance and headed north, to prevent Gaveston

escaping to Scotland.

But Robert the Bruce said no.

Two weeks, later Gaveston was captured and imprisoned.

Edward tried to broker his friend's release, but the ordainers

were determined the pair should never set eyes on each other again.

Gaveston was taken to Warwick Castle, where he was tried

and declared an enemy of the king and his people.

He was taken to a hill nearby and executed.

To mark the site of the execution, a monument was built.

What a strange, forgotten little place.

Yes, this is Gaveston's Cross.

What an atmospheric place, huh?

-Oh, my, it just gets more and more peculiar.

-Indeed, yeah.

Look at that. "In the hollow of this rock,

"was beheaded Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall,

"the minion of a hateful King in life and death,

"a memorable instance of misrule."

That is a very strange memorial.

There's a story about a long delay between his death

and eventual burial.

Yes, three years afterwards, one year after Bannockburn, essentially.

-So, that's quite a long time, isn't it?

-Three years.

So that would have been a continuing sore for Edward,

the fact that this person that he loved was above ground.

Exactly, imagine the emotional turmoil of waiting

all of that time to make sure that your friend

was buried in the correct and proper way.

As Gaveston's corpse lay festering,

it became a symbol of division between Edward and his nobles.

Two years later, Edward was given the chance.

Bannockburn.

Edward marched north intent on relieving Stirling Castle.

Defeating Robert the Bruce would re-establish his authority.

So, in a sense, Bannockburn was as much of an opportunity

for Edward as it was for the Bruce.

It was an opportunity to avenge Gaveston's murder, his execution.

A glorious victory would give Edward back the upper hand.

It would restore his prestige and his status.

Perhaps, more than anything else, it would curb the ambitions

of the ordainers, force them to submit to the King's will.

But Edward's belief his opponents would unite behind the campaign

against Scotland was soon dashed. A handful of the ordainers,

some of England's most powerful nobles,

adamantly refused to join the king.

If they had joined with Edward on that day,

then the story of Bannockburn might have been quite different.

Edward's come north with an English army, led by his nobles.

But some of those guys are missing, aren't they?

There's bad blood between some of the nobles and the king

because of the relationship between Gaveston and Edward.

And so, Lancaster, Arundel,

Surrey and Warwick are conspicuous by their absence.

While they send representation, the men themselves who should

have been at Edward's side are not there.

So, we could say that Edward's not playing with his A Team.

Definitely not. There's gaps in the offensive and defensive.

But in the end, it wasn't a lack of men or nobles that led

to Edward's downfall. His nemesis was the Bannockburn

by which he camped and which gave its name to the battle.

The place where Edward had decided to camp was, at first glance,

strategically sound.

There was water for the horses,

and the Bannockburn and another stream, the Pelstream,

surrounded him, giving him protection

from surprise attacks from behind.

But on the day of the battle, the Bannockburn gave anything but that

as the English forces retreated from the Scots advance.

One chronicle describes it as "the watery grave for the English army".

The Bannockburn twists and turns for many miles.

The contemporary accounts all agree that, somewhere along it,

the battle was fought.

If we can find archaeological evidence, we will be able

to pinpoint where the two armies clashed on day two of the battle.

Well, this is interesting. I've never seen Stirling from the river.

'We are heading to where the Bannockburn

'flows in to the River Forth.'

And it's when you enter the mouth of the Bannockburn that you get

a very clear idea of how much of an obstacle the river would

have been to a medieval army.

In all the years of talking about Bannockburn, I've never been on it.

It's more somewhere you talk about than somewhere you visit.

It's about 50-feet wide here.

I wonder how far we could get up it before we get grounded.

I know, but it really, it feels like a river here, not a burn.

You wouldn't call this a burn, would you? Well, I wouldn't.

No, it's an amazing different perspective.

The drowned man's perspective.

And you go in... I mean,, when you go in, presumably when you go

into that water, underfoot, it's not firm footing, it's just thick slime?

It's just slime, it's just gel.

Yeah, you sink, you sink through it.

Well, there are accounts of many of them drowning in the river

and, presumably, in the lower reaches, here.

Some people say more drowned than were killed by the Scots.

From the air, it's not only the size of the Bannockburn

that's very clear. Its dramatic twists and turns would have been

a nightmare for the fleeing English army to cross.

That mud is as treacherous as the water.

Yeah, and you can see, this side of it, you can

see all this marshland, as well.

So, it's not just the burn itself,

it's the ground next to it that's a treacherous place.

So, if the English army got itself with no option but to try and get

its way back across that water, it's got no chance of doing it.

Not heavily armed men and all that equipment.

And in a panic. No way.

-Especially as it breaks up - men in all directions.

-Yeah.

Further upstream, the Bannockburn remains a formidable barrier.

Everywhere you look at the Bannockburn,

it's a considerable obstacle to men and animals, isn't it?

If this bears any resemblance to what it looked like

in the medieval period, it's a death trap. Look at it.

Look how deep it's cut.

If you're looking for that great ditch that everybody

-goes on about, Every ten feet, it's a great ditch.

-Yeah.

-Dressed in armour, panicked.

-Yeah, impossible.

-It's hellish.

It seems likely that here, on the flat Carse,

bounded by the Bannockburn on the south and east

and the Pelstream to the north, is the site of the battle.

It's time to dig for archaeological evidence.

Welcome to the last Bannockburn 700 project and the biggest yet.

We're covering 30 hectares here

and if you can stick your hand up

if you've got anything interesting. Even if you're not sure, just stick

your hand up and Neil or Tony will come along and just, and give you...

-And we won't know what it is either.

-LAUGHTER

'For the final push, we've called upon the services of local

'metal detectors, volunteers and a British Army archaeological unit,

'Operation Nightingale.

'Staffed by soldiers injured in the conflicts in Afghanistan

'and Iraq, it serves as a form of occupational therapy.

'And for us archaeologists, they give a valuable soldier's perspective.'

They can bring a unique insight in to a battlefield.

What is it like to be there when you're under threat,

when your life is in danger?

If something goes wrong, where are your extraction routes?

The most difficult thing to do in any battle

is the extraction away from the enemy.

And, of course, that was one of the key elements of Bannockburn.

How did the English army extract and what happened?

Does it strike you as ironic that you've moved

from modern battlefields to a very, very old battlefield, in one jump.

Yes, it is quite surreal.

You just look around and you think,

you know, what was going on here, 700 years ago?

Just absolutely ridiculous

the amount of people that must have died.

-I imagine digging trenches isn't new to you, then?

-Ha!

No, but the difference is I'm enjoying it now and I've not

got somebody shouting at me.

That's good, we won't be doing that, anyway, mate. Carry on.

Anything worth...? Ooh!

I was about to say anything worth reporting? Good grief.

Oh, you dancer. You know what that is?

-I think, possibly, a pendant?

-Exactly. A horse pendant.

'As with all the objects we unearth,

'they'll need forensic examination after the dig.'

That could be one of our bits of horse furniture.

It's one of the best things I've ever seen you find.

It is, it is. I must agree with you there.

-I must agree with you there.

-Stick with it.

Archaeology is fun, Doctor P.

Lee, how are you?

'And there's one find that shows particular promise.'

What have we here? Oh.

What on earth? Has this just come up?

Yeah, definitely. Just here.

What?!

Good grief.

That's what it's all about, isn't it, really? Good Lord.

You do, from the medieval period,

get crosses hanging from horse harnesses.

And it does look as though you've got the very tip

of a hanger, there.

I would guess that this is, again, another part of horse furniture,

probably from one of the English horses.

These crosses are definitely a feature of medieval horse harness.

And as these guys are fleeing back across the burn,

there's no doubt that this stuff's going to be falling off.

It's going to be absolute panic.

And I think we're getting a picture of that now.

That's superb.

I think we've got a snapshot of the later stages

of the Battle of Bannockburn here. I think it's stunning.

-Well done, Lee.

-Thank you very much, Tony.

What's beginning to emerge,

is possible evidence of the last moments of the battle,

when the English army fled from the field, towards the Bannockburn.

Could you imagine, you might have 7,000 people trying to get out here.

-It's not going to be pretty, is it?

-It's a race for survival.

People at the start will probably have a better chance of survival

than people at the end.

'To Sergeant Diarmaid Walshe,

'the archaeological finds fit the picture of an army on the run.'

So, your lightly-armoured troops, maybe your archers, skirmishers,

have a better chance of survival.

Your heavy-armour troops would have struggled there.

They might have fallen.

Once they go down, it's very difficult to get back up.

And, also, of course, as you can see now, it's getting very wet.

You're now starting to get out. If you're at the start,

there's still grass, to get a grip.

If you've had a couple of thousand people come through this,

this would turn into a mud bath.

You'd be slipping, you'd be sliding, you'd be trying to gain purchase.

You would get rid of your kit.

-Anything that's loose would be falling off.

-Stunning.

For the first time ever, I'm able to talk to somebody

about this being a real scenario and not hypothetical.

And that, for me, is a stunning breakthrough.

'After the initial excitement of the dig...'

What we got in here?

'..it's time to take a proper look at the finds.'

This is that thing we think might be part of a spur.

The heel bit. It's in really bad nick.

We've got a horseshoe here. Possible scalloping on the edge,

which would be indicative of the medieval horseshoe.

This is a lovely little thing.

Characteristic shield-shaped heraldic pendant.

We've got this other little crucifix, a little cross.

Oh, yeah, I think this is possibly my favourite find of the whole thing.

So, we've got a fair selection of stuff,

but we can't say anything definitive until we've had these tests done.

So, I think, in the first instance, if you can get them X-rayed

-and we'll take it from there, really.

-Yeah.

To make sure the finds are medieval,

Warren is taking the iron objects to be X-rayed, which will hopefully

reveal the internal shape, hidden beneath centuries of rust and dirt.

Trying to find the medieval evidence of the battle

is very, very difficult.

BEEP

'The X-ray of the horseshoe is disappointing,

'as it's clearly 20th century.

'But the spur looks much more promising.'

From that image, it looks like it's all one piece

and someone's probably hammered it from one piece.

Hi, Aoife.

Hello, Tony.

'For the medieval pendants,

I'm seeing Glasgow University's metallurgy expert.

'The analysis reveals

'that both heraldic objects are made out of copper.'

-So, pure copper?

-So, yeah. Largely copper.

'But the cross appears to contain a more precious ingredient.'

-1%.

-1% gold?

So, we're looking at something that was potentially

a reasonably high-status object, then. There's clearly more to it

-than meets the eye, once you start looking at the science of it.

-Yes.

-Natasha, there's a couple of objects I would like you to look at.

-OK.

'I'm hoping both objects are from the right period,

'but only Natasha Ferguson, from the National Treasure Trove Unit,

'can properly validate them.

'But it's not good news, when it comes to the heraldic shield.'

They are shield shapes. I can see where that, kind of, comparison

to heraldic pendants might come from. But this, this is definitely

a 19th-20th century

saddle mount.

You can see the iron rivets where it would have fitted on to the saddle.

And also that shape. It's probably copying that style.

'But what about the cross?'

-It's fragile.

-Ah, right. Oh, fantastic.

That certainly looks like a horse pendant - medieval.

These date from the late 13th century through to the 14th century.

They've got quite a tight chronology.

So, right on our money, then, for the Battle of Bannockburn?

Your words are music to my ears. Excellent, that's wonderful news.

At last, something we can safely say is from the battle.

Never before has the Battle of Bannockburn

been so thoroughly investigated.

Over two years, we've unearthed a staggering 3,500 objects.

The soil of Bannockburn hasn't been kind to these finds.

A lot are corroded beyond recognition and most of these

are only decades old. So, amazingly a handful from the right period

have survived and, crucially, they are all related to cavalry.

This looks very much like a heel-end of a spur.

Oh, on the back of a heel?

So that would go like that. It's been bent and distorted.

-Goodness.

-Now, this looks interesting.

It looks as though it's the base of a stirrup from the medieval period.

We have something which is in a special box,

because it is the star find.

This is really the icing on the cake, as far as the finds are concerned.

-A cross.

-Look at that.

Horse pendants are the quintessential piece of horse furniture

from the period. Now, if we look at this picture here,

which is from a manuscript from the 1300s. And there they are.

Right there, hanging from the horse's chest.

..across the horse's chest, three of them.

And there, on the horse's headband is another one.

-On its forehead.

-And I think we were very fortunate to find what we have.

So, that's essentially a miracle?

It's a miracle, backed up with a hell of a lot of really hard work.

And the thing is, it's a great place,

because it's where we thought the English were most likely

to cross the burn, both crossing over to give battle and then fleeing back,

as the battle goes badly for them. And it's in exactly that spot.

The medieval cross,

the spur and the stirrup

were all found in this loop of the Bannockburn,

dropped by English knights

fleeing across the river, to get away from the Scottish army.

Ironically, the supposedly safe ground, where the English

chose to camp, turned out to be their nemesis.

I suppose, ultimately, what is wrong, is that the English

are simply not expecting the trouble that they find themselves in.

And so, when the Scots come down towards them, en masse,

there's just not enough organisation in the English camp

to get anything up and running fast enough to intercept it.

I think you're quite right. I think the speed and clarity

of the Scottish advance that takes them on the back foot

and, as they're in camp, desperately trying to position themselves.

There's only one army on the field that knows

there's going to be a battle. And it's the Scots.

Now we know that the battle took place on The Carse, we can

make more sense of the historical accounts of that momentous day.

Scott McMaster is a medieval historian and runs

the National Trust for Scotland Battle of Bannockburn Centre.

With the contemporary accounts to hand, he's going to guide us

through the day's events.

What do you think it is that makes the Bruce decide that, rather than

just holding the English in, putting on a show, in the face of them,

when does he think, "Actually, I could take them"?

It's really when Sir Alexander Seaton - a Scots knight fighting

on the English side - sort of, defects and makes his way up

and informs Bruce that the English are in such a disarray.

Bruce realises he's got an opportunity here.

The generals are at each other's throats and he also realises that

they're hemmed in between the Pelstream and the Bannockburn

and this is a perfect opportunity to sweep down and attack them.

So, a position that had been

understandable, from the English point of view -

protected by the water, have the water for their horses,

by the following day, it had become a great problem - a weakness.

Yeah, absolutely, it's going to become a major disadvantage,

because they're hemmed in.

On the English perspective, they don't expect the Scots to fight.

He's a guerrilla fighter, why should he?

The very rivers are there exactly to protect them

from any guerrilla attack.

Using the contemporary accounts,

we're going to restage what happened next.

And to help us, an army of experienced combat fighters,

called Clanranald, combined with a visual effects team,

will make sure the action is as realistic as possible.

You'll feel like wild dogs in a pit.

'Clanranald is led by Charlie Allan, who has spent years studying

'Bannockburn. In the process, Clanranald has amassed an impressive

'collection of weapons and kit, to bring Bruce's tactics to life.'

You don't want to die, OK. They don't want to die.

So, you're fighting for your life.

Day two of the battle started at first light.

While the English camp was still sleeping,

the Scots crept silently down through Balquhidderock Wood.

They emerged into the morning light and lined up.

To the astonishment of the sleepy English commanders,

all of the Scots knelt down to pray.

Kneeling for prayer is really essential, from a military

point of view, but it also gives them time to assemble, so to speak.

It gives the captains time to have a look around,

to make sure everyone is there. Nobody rushing ahead suddenly,

in a bout of excitement to charge at the English.

Or just to make sure that nobody has deserted. That they're all

-getting together and they're all in line and holding formation.

-Yeah.

Across The Carse, Edward watched the Scots kneeling.

He took the Scots piety as prayers for something else.

The Scots quickly finished their prayers

and started to advance towards the English.

Across The Carse, in the English camp,

a row broke out between Edward and the Earl of Gloucester.

Gloucester goes to the King Edward and explains to him

that the men need some rest.

And Edward II is not happy about this.

He accused Gloucester of treachery and, almost, cowardice.

And this is obviously in front of the fellow earls

and some of the knights.

Gloucester, this 23-year-old young guy - full of prestige,

one of the most powerful men in England - his pride's dented

and his honour is dented. So, immediately he's enraged by this.

He leaves and says to himself, "I'm going to prove a point to Edward."

He jumps on his horse and rides straight at the Scots.

Taking down a solitary knight is one thing,

but it's estimated that Edward's cavalry numbered around 2,000.

Scott, are these about the same size as medieval warhorses?

No, they're. They're actually a lot smaller than the medieval warhorses.

The warhorses of the period were heavy

and trained specifically for the main task of warfare.

In battle, would the horses be armoured?

Yeah, they are quite heavy, to stop any, sort of, cuts and so forth.

Some of them will be covered in mail, as well.

They're trained, you know, specifically to fight in battle.

So, noises, in terms of the elements of steel on steel,

the smashing, the splintering or whatever is going

around about them, they'd be very much used to that.

It is purely a terrifying prospect.

I think we're all instinctively a little bit nervous around horses.

The sound of hundreds of them coming in a line.

Yeah, I mean, you would feel the ground, literally, move,

as the hooves hit the ground and the vibrations come through.

It's an effective weapon, even now.

So how did Bruce plan to break their charge, using just foot soldiers?

Robert's intention was to close the gap between him

and the unprepared English as quickly as possible.

So, preventing Edward's cavalry from building up enough momentum

to smash the Scots line.

This is really what Bannockburn is fundamentally all about.

These bodies of men with their pikes and spears, moving forward

and jabbing forward, closing the gap between themselves and the cavalry,

so the cavalry can't fully deploy or cannot race in

-and decimate the infantry.

-It's incredible. It must have been

an incredibly daunting sight, seeing that coming towards you.

It was. If you imagine that thing moving forward with the pikes

jabbing towards you, at every possible angle.

I think we know a man that may be able to give us an idea of that.

Charlie, could we possibly?

You're going to have to give us some room.

-Arms up!

-THEY SHOUT

Schiltron formation, on three. One, two, three!

The Scottish army then reached the English,

engaging them along the entire front.

The English knights now found themselves hemmed in

between the Scots schiltrons and the mass of their own army.

Bruce's schiltron pushes forward

and the English are hemmed in between the Pelstream

and the Bannockburn, so there's not much space for them to move, at all.

And slowly, but surely, of course, what happens is they -

the horses and the cavalry - are pushed back onto their own men.

But as they're pushing forward, there is this, crush, essentially,

that happens and you can just imagine it.

The horses are coming back and the men are coming back

and these damn Scots are pushing forward all the time, just piercing

horse flesh, piercing armour. Pushing them back all the time.

It's almost like a combine harvester, just cutting...

cutting back, chewing them up,

although in this case, it's a prickly hedgehog of spears.

Pushing forward, the Scots soon began to gain ground

and chaos broke out in the English ranks.

With many dead and wounded being trampled.

The whole army was slowly, but surely, driven back,

towards the Bannockburn.

Was there never an opportunity for the English archers to deploy

and start wearing down the Scots?

Well, it is mentioned in Barbour's Bruce,

the detachment of English archers, they are seen to by Keith's cavalry.

There's 500 light cavalry coming to decimate them.

But the reality is, cos the English are really caught on the hop,

that there's no room, as we've already seen for

-the archers to actually deploy.

-So, there's no room for them, either?

No. I mean, we're standing together. How on earth would you, even if

we are in ranks, how are we going to loose your arrow

from this distance if there's so many horsemen ahead of you, as well.

And you've got this thicket of spears coming towards you, too,

and there's guys moving about, trying to get position.

There's just no way for them to deploy themselves.

It is amazing, isn't it? Even if you've got an overwhelming

number of fighting men, if you can't deploy them,

then they simply become a hazard to themselves and each other.

They're not a danger any more. They're just in each others' way.

You've got those two super weapons - the heavy horse

and the archers - and both are absolutely useless in this battle.

But the biggest threat to the English troops was the Bannockburn.

The English army, as an organised fighting force, had ceased to exist.

Now in retreat, they are forced to recross the river.

MEN SHOUT, SWORDS CLASH

Many fall in a section named by the chroniclers, as the Great Ditch.

Here come more of the fleeing English.

It's all gone badly wrong for someone.

Can you imagine thousands of men trying to do the same thing?

Because if you walk, if you ran onto that steep side in armour,

chain mail, you'd never get up it.

Not if there's thousands of people, where it's like a football crowd.

Robert the Bruce had defeated Edward.

And it came at a huge price for the English army.

Reports on fatalities vary immensely.

At least 150 of Edward's knights were killed.

While the death toll of the English foot soldiers was in the thousands.

There is no record of the Scots casualties,

but we can assume their losses would have been significantly fewer.

What about the English King?

Sensing imminent defeat, the party looking after Edward,

grabbed the reigns of his horse and dragged him off the field

and fled towards Stirling Castle.

But Edward wasn't exactly received with open arms.

After the battle, when it's all gone pear-shaped for Edward,

he doesn't really have any place to go, apart from the castle.

Surely, though, even his most pessimistic predictions wouldn't

have allowed for making a run for it, from the battlefield of defeat.

He didn't expect to lose, that's for sure.

And when he does come up here,

the remnants of the garrison up here give him, what I would say

is pretty sound advice - you do not want to be coming in here.

He eventually ends up in Dunbar,

where he gets a ship down to England, but not a happy ending for him.

No, the ignominy of it! Even turned away by his own men.

The Battle of Bannockburn secured Robert the Bruce's future

as ruler of Scotland.

But he had to wait 14 years for Edward II's son, Edward III,

to recognise Scotland as an independent kingdom

and Bruce as its king.

He died just one year later, in 1329.

It's amazing how many people still imbue it with such significance,

-the Battle of Bannockburn.

-It does mean so much to so many,

hence the statue behind us.

But the thing is, the battle didn't really settle that much.

It didn't mean that Scotland had won its independence,

Edward II didn't recognise that.

What it did do was establish Robert Bruce's reputation

as king, within Scotland, but the wars of independence rumbled on.

I suppose, basically, what Bannockburn did was it was part

-of what secured the legend of that man there.

-Yeah.

It makes the name of Robert Bruce immortal.

Overlooking the Bannockburn, Bruce had made his plan to defeat

Edward, to force the English army on to The Carse

and push this mighty force towards the burn.

In the end, they had nowhere to go

and it's on the banks of the Bannockburn where

the fleeing English left their trace in the landscape.

But for us, the battle's over.

It has been a challenge, there's no doubt that, but we do now

have the first tangible evidence for the Battle of Bannockburn.

Small in quantity, but high in quality.

That's a good enough result for me.