List of massacres in Great Britain

Inclusion criteria

This is a list ofmassacresthat have occurred in the purely geographical definition of the island ofGreat Britainand minor outlying islands andexcludesNorthern Irelandandmassacres in Irelandbefore independence.

List

Date	Name	Location	Deaths	Injuries	Notes
60 or 61 AD	Boudica's attacks on Roman cities	Camulodunum(modern-dayColchester),Londinium(modern-dayLondon),Verulamium(modern-daySt Albans)	70,000–80,000 (Mostly Britons)		Forces led byBoudica,Queen of theIcenitribe, massacred bothRomansandBritonsin Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium. Her forces were later defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Watling Street.
633–634	Cadwallon ap Cadfan'soccupation ofNorthumbria	Northumbria	Unknown		KingCadwallon ap CadfanofGwynedd,defeated and occupied theKingdom of Northumbriaafter allying withKing Pendaof Mercia. Bededescribes Cadwallon's actions during the occupation, stating "though he bore the name and professed himself a Christian, was so barbarous in his disposition and behaviour, that he neither spared the female sex, nor the innocent age of children, but with savage cruelty put them to tormenting deaths, ravaging all their country for a long time, and resolving to cut off all the race of the English within the borders of Britain". Cadwallon's occupation ended when he was killed at theBattle of Heavenfield.
13 November 1002	St. Brice's Day massacre	Territory ofEnglandunder Anglo-Saxon control	Unknown		The St. Brice's Day massacre was the extermination of immigrantDanes,their families and descendants, including those of mixed Danish andAnglo-Saxondescent on orders of the Anglo-Saxon KingÆthelred the Unreadyand took place in remaining territory in his control in what is now England, at a time England was subject toDanelaw.Gunhildesister ofSweyn Forkbeard,the King of Denmark was a victim along with her husbandPallig Tokesen
1066	Harald Hardrada's attack on Scarborough	Scarborough	No survivors		Attack byVikingsled byHarald HardradaandTostig Godwinson.A prelude to theBattle of Stamford Bridgeand ultimately theBattle of Hastingsin 1066. Scarborough was subsequently absent from theDomesday Book.
1069–1070	Harrying of the North	TheNorth of Englandbetween theHumberand theTees	100,000		William the Conqueror's men burnt whole villages and slaughtered the inhabitants. Foodstores and livestock were destroyed so that anyone surviving the initial massacre would starve over the winter.
October 1136	Massacre of Norman, English, and Flemish Settlers	Cardiganand surrounding areas	10,000		Following the victory ofGwyneddandDeheubarthover theNormanforces at theBattle of Crug Mawr,theWelshtargeted the foreign settler population. Many fled to the fortified town of Cardigan for safety, which was subsequently taken and burned by the Welsh.
16 March 1190	Massacre of the Jews at York	York,England	150		"A wave ofanti-Semiticriots culminated in the massacre of an estimated 150 Jews – the entire Jewish community of York – who had taken refuge in the royal castle whereClifford's Towernow stands. The chroniclerWilliam of Newburghdescribed the rioters in York as acting 'without any scruple of Christian conscientiousness' in wiping out the Jewish community. "
30 March 1296	Massacre of Berwick	Berwick-upon-Tweed,Scotland (at the time)	7,500–16,000	unknown	After besieging the Scottish town, English troops massacred the civilian and military population.
10–12 February 1355	St Scholastica Day riot	Oxford,England	93	Unknown	A riot culminating from tensions between the people of the city of Oxford and the academic community of theUniversity.
21 October 1490	Massacre of Monzievaird	Monzievaird,Scotland	possibly 120		Clan warfare
1521	Amersham Martyrdoms	Amersham,Buckinghamshire	6		Massacre ofLollardsfor the heresy of reading theBibleinEnglish
1549	Clyst Heath Massacre	Clyst Heath, Devon	900		Massacre of bound and gagged rebels from Cornwall and Devon taken prisoner during thePrayer Book Rebellion.
1577	Eigg massacre	Isle of Eigg, Scotland	395		Clan warfare: according to theClanranaldlegend, all but one of the Isle of Eigg'sMacDonald clanwere asphyxiated by their rivalMacLeod clanin themassacre caveon the south coast of the island.
28 May 1644	Storming of Bolton	Bolton,England	1,600		During theEnglish Civil War,Royalistforces underPrince Rupert of the Rhineslaughtered a large population of the stronglyParliamentariantown of Bolton.
1646	Dunoon massacre	Dunoon,Scotland	200		Clan warfare
May 1647	Battle of Dunaverty	Kintyre,Scotland	300		More than 300 of MacDougalls and MacDonald's followers, men, women and children, were slaughtered at Dunaverty after being promised quarter (mercy) by theCovenanters.
13 February 1692	Massacre of Glencoe	Glen Coe,Scotland	78		Committed by theClan Campbellunder CaptainRobert Campbell of Glenlyon,ostensibly due to irregularities concerning the swearing of an oath of allegiance toWilliam II of Scotland.
9 March 1761	Hexham Riot	Hexham	45 - 51?	300 est.	Massacre of demonstrators atHexhamMarket Place by North Yorkshire militia.
10 May 1768	Massacre of St George's Fields	London, England	6–7		Committed by theHorse Grenadier Guardsand theThird Regiment of Foot Guardsduring ariotagainst the imprisonment ofJohn WilkesinSt. George's Fields.
29 October 1797	Massacre of Tranent	Tranent,East Lothian,Scotland	12		Townsfolk, including women and children, were killed by members of the Cinque Ports Dragoons, afenciblecavalry regiment, during a protest against the Act of Parliament to raise a Scots militia by a form of conscription.
16 August 1819	Peterloo Massacre	Manchester,Lancashire,England	15	400–700	Committed by the15th Hussarsand theManchester and Salford Yeomanryduring a large outdoor political demonstration for maleuniversal suffrageinSt. Peter's Field.Led to the enacting of theSix Acts.
May – 7 June 1831	Merthyr Rising	Merthyr Tydfil,Wales	24-26	70+	Described by historian John Davies as "the most ferocious and bloody event in the history of industrialised Britain", the rebellion in Merthyr Tydfil and surrounding areas broke out following protests against falling wages, the price of bread, and forced redundancy. During the bloodiest incident,Argyll and Sutherland Highlandertroops sent to retake Merthyr fired on protesters during a fight against a large crowd.
4 November 1839	Newport Rising	Newport, Wales	22	50+	Led byJohn Frost,between 1,000 and 5,000Chartistsympathisers armed with home-made weapons marched on Newport, intent on liberating fellow Chartists who had reportedly been taken prisoner. About 22 demonstrators were killed when troops opened fire on them. The leaders of the rebellion were convicted of high treason, and sentenced to transportation for life.
12/13 August 1842	Preston Strike of 1842	Preston, Lancashire,England	4	3+	The Mayor Samuel Horrocksread the Riot Act.This gave local authorities the right to use force if necessary to disperse unlawful assemblies and stop riots. When violence escalated and the crowd did not disperse, the72nd Highlandersfired into the crowd, shooting at least eight men.
13 December 1867	Clerkenwell explosion	London,England	12	120	TheIrish Republican Brotherhoodattempted to free a member namedRicard O'Sullivan BurkefromClerkenwell Prisonby blowing up a wall with gunpowder. The explosion damaged several nearby buildings and killed twelve people. No prisoners escaped.
25 August 1939	Coventry bombing	Coventry,England	5	70	A bicycle bomb planted by theIrish Republican Armyexploded without warning on Broadgate in Coventry city centre. Five bystanders were killed and there were over 70 injuries, 12 of them serious. Two of the perpetrators,Peter BarnesandJames McCormickwere convicted and executed for the crime.
22 February 1972	Aldershot bombing	Aldershot,England	7	18	A car bomb outside the headquarters of theBritish Army's16th Parachute RegimentbyOfficial IRAmember Noel Jenkinson.
4 February 1974	M62 coach bombing	West Yorkshire,England	12	38	A bombing on a coach carrying servicemen and their families by theProvisional Irish Republican Army.
5 October 1974	Guildford pub bombings	Guildford,England	5	65	Two bombs detonated in two Guildford pubs by the PIRA who targeted them because they were popular with British servicemen.
21 November 1974	Birmingham pub bombings	Birmingham,England	21	182	Two bombs detonated in two Birmingham pubs by the PIRA.
16 August 1980	Denmark Place fire	London,England	37		Anarsonattack against a nightclub onDenmark Streetby patron who was angry at being barred from the club for arguing with a barman. Described - prior to the Lockerbie bombing - as the deadliest mass murder in modern British history.
19 August 1987	Hungerford massacre	Hungerford,England	16	15	Aspree shooting/murder–suicide.Led to theFirearms (Amendment) Act 1988.
21 December 1988	Lockerbie bombing	Lockerbie,Scotland	270		A bombing on thePan Am Flight 103over Lockerbie byLibyanterroristAbdelbaset al-Megrahi,the damaged plane fell onto the town of Lockerbie. All passengers and crew members on the flight were killed, and eleven people on the ground.
26 February 1994	Clerkenwell cinema fire	London,England	11	13	Anarsonattack against a cinema in Clerkenwell by patron who was angry at having to pay entry fee again after leaving.
13 March 1996	Dunblane massacre	Dunblane,Scotland	17	15	Aschool shooting/murder–suicide. Deadliest mass shooting in UK history.
30 April 1999	Admiral Duncan nail bombing	London,England	3	79	Anail bombingat theAdmiral Duncangay barthat killed three people and injured 79. Part of a series of bombings by neo-NaziDavid Copeland,although this was the only one to result in fatalities.
7 July 2005	7 July 2005 London bombings	London,England	52	700+	Al-Qaedaattack. Four coordinated terroristSuicide bombingsincentral Londonbetween 08:50 and 09:47. It was the United Kingdom's worst terrorist incident since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
2 June 2010	Cumbria shootings	Cumbria,England	12	11	Akilling spree/murder–suicide.
1 January 2012	Horden shooting	Horden,England	4	1	Amass shooting/murder–suicide.
22 March 2017	2017 Westminster attack	London, England	6	49	A vehicle and knife Islamist terrorist attack outside thePalace of Westminster.
22 May 2017	Manchester Arena bombing	Manchester,England	23	1017	Islamist terrorist suicide attack atManchester Arenaafter anAriana Grandeconcert.In May 2018, the number of injured was revised to 800.
3 June 2017	2017 London Bridge attack	London,England	8	48	Islamic State of Iraq and Syriaattack/vehicle and knife attack.
29 November 2019	2019 London Bridge attack	London, England	3	3	Islamic State of Iraq and Syriaknife attack. ISIS took responsibility for the attack. Usman Khan was named the attacker.
20 June 2020	2020 Reading stabbings	Reading,England	3	3	Islamic terror attack. Three people killed and three injured. Khairi Saadallah received awhole-life orderfor the attack.
12 August 2021	2021 Plymouth shooting	Plymouth,England	6	2	6 people killed including the gunman after a mass shooting inKeyham, Plymouth.The gunman was Jake William Davison.
13 June 2023	2023 Nottingham attacks	Nottingham,England	3	3	3 fatally stabbed and 3 injured by a van in the early hours of the morning. Valdo Calocane was sentenced to indefinite detention at a high-security hospital.
29 July 2024	2024 Southport stabbing	Southport,England	3	10	3 children fatally stabbed and 8 children and 2 adults injured. 17 year old suspect arrested.