List of massacres in Great Britain

|Boudica's attacks on Roman cities

|Camulodunum (modern-day Colchester), Londinium (modern-day London), Verulamium (modern-day St Albans)

|70,000–80,000 (Mostly Britons)

|

|Forces led by Boudica, Queen of the Iceni tribe, massacred both Romans and Britons in Camulodunum, Londinium and Verulamium. Her forces were later defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Watling Street.{{Cite book|last=Davies|first=Norman|title=The Isles: A History|year=1999|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-820171-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/europehistory00davi_0/page/93 93]|url=https://archive.org/details/europehistory00davi_0/page/93}}

|Cadwallon ap Cadfan's occupation of Northumbria

|Northumbria

|Unknown

|

|King Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd, defeated and occupied the Kingdom of Northumbria after allying with King Penda of Mercia.

Bede describes 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".Bede, H. E., Book II, chapter 20.

Cadwallon's occupation ended when he was killed at the Battle of Heavenfield.

|St. Brice's Day massacre

|Territory of England under Anglo-Saxon control

|Unknown

|

|The St. Brice's Day massacre was the extermination of immigrant Danes, their families and descendants, including those of mixed Danish and Anglo-Saxon descent on orders of the Anglo-Saxon King Æthelred the Unready{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/2002-03/v15n1/05.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007141741/http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/2002-03/v15n1/05.shtml|work=Oxford Today|title=Massacre at St Frideswide's|first=Michele|last=Wates|edition=Michaelmas 2002|archive-date=7 October 2009|url-status=dead}} and took place in remaining territory in his control in what is now England, at a time England was subject to Danelaw. Gunhilde sister of Sweyn Forkbeard, the King of Denmark was a victim along with her husband Pallig Tokesen{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=Ann | title=Aethelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King|year= 2003|location=Hambledon |publisher=Hambledon Continuum |isbn=1-85285-382-4|pages=52–53}}

|Harald Hardrada's attack on Scarborough

|Scarborough

|No survivors

|

|Attack by Vikings led by Harald Hardrada and Tostig Godwinson. A prelude to the Battle of Stamford Bridge and ultimately the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Scarborough was subsequently absent from the Domesday Book.

|Harrying of the North

|The North of England between the Humber and the Tees

|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.{{Cite book|last=Rex|first=Peter|title=The English Resistance: The Underground War Against the Normans|publisher=Tempus|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire|year= 2004|isbn=0-7524-2827-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szMIAQAAMAAJ|page=28}}{{Cite book|last= Vitalis|first=Ordericus|title=The Ecclesiastical history of England and Normandy. Volume ii|editor=Thomas Forester Tr.|year=1854| publisher=Henry G. Bohn|location=London|url=https://archive.org/stream/ecclesiasticalh00fragoog#page/n38/mode/2up|page=28}}

|Massacre of Norman, English, and Flemish Settlers

|Cardigan and surrounding areas

|10,000Keynes, Simon (2001). "Florence". In Michael Lapidge; et al. (eds.). The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 188.

|

|Following the victory of Gwynedd and Deheubarth over the Norman forces at the Battle of Crug Mawr, the Welsh targeted the foreign settler population. Many fled to the fortified town of Cardigan for safety, which was subsequently taken and burned by the Welsh."Coflein: Crug Mawr, site of battle, near Cardigan". Retrieved 1 January 2019.

|Massacre of the Jews at York{{cite web |url=http://ddickerson.igc.org/cliffords-tower.html |title=Clifford's Tower: Massacre at York (1190) |website=ddickerson.igc.org |author=David Dickerson |date=2 July 1997 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919130127/http://ddickerson.igc.org/cliffords-tower.html |archive-date=19 September 2008 }}

|York, England

|{{Sort|0150|150}}

|

|"A wave of anti-Semitic riots culminated in the massacre of an estimated 150 Jews – the entire Jewish community of York – who had taken refuge in the royal castle where Clifford's Tower now stands. The chronicler William of Newburgh described the rioters in York as acting 'without any scruple of Christian conscientiousness' in wiping out the Jewish community."{{cite web |title=The 1190 Massacre |url=http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/norman/the-1190-massacre |access-date=2013-04-19 |website=History of York}}{{cite book |last1=Margolis |first1=Max L. |last2=Marx |first2=Alexander |title=A History of the Jewish People |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjewishp00phil |location=Philadelphia |publisher=The Jewish Publication Society of America |year=1927 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofjewishp00phil/page/387 387–388]}}

|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.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKwQAAAAYAAJ|pages=113–116|title=Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland, and of the Border Raids, Forays, and Conflicts|chapter=Siege of Berwick, 1296|author=John Parker Lawson|year=1849}}

|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 the University.

|Massacre of Monzievaird

|Monzievaird, Scotland

|data-sort-value="120"|possibly 120

|

|Clan warfare

|Amersham Martyrdoms

|Amersham, Buckinghamshire

|6

|

|Massacre of Lollards for the heresy of reading the Bible in English{{cite web|url=http://www.amersham.org.uk/martyrsmemorial/|title=Amersham Martyrs Memorial |access-date=13 March 2021}}

|Clyst Heath Massacre

|Clyst Heath, Devon

|900

|

|Massacre of bound and gagged rebels from Cornwall and Devon taken prisoner during the Prayer Book Rebellion.

|Eigg massacre

|Isle of Eigg, Scotland

|395

|

|Clan warfare: according to the Clanranald legend, all but one of the Isle of Eigg's MacDonald clan were asphyxiated by their rival MacLeod clan in the massacre cave on the south coast of the island.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotlandinfo.eu/isle-of-eigg-small-isles/|title=Isle of Eigg – Small Isles |website=www.scotlandinfo.eu |date=27 February 2015 |access-date=13 March 2021}}

|Storming of Bolton

|Bolton, England

|{{Sort|1600|1,600}}

|

|During the English Civil War, Royalist forces under Prince Rupert of the Rhine slaughtered a large population of the strongly Parliamentarian town of Bolton.

|Dunoon massacre

|Dunoon, Scotland

|200

|

|Clan warfare

|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 the Covenanters.

|Massacre of Glencoe

|Glen Coe, Scotland

|{{Sort|0078|78}}

|

|Committed by the Clan Campbell under Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, ostensibly due to irregularities concerning the swearing of an oath of allegiance to William II of Scotland.

|Hexham Riot

|Hexham

|45 - 51?

|300 est.

|Massacre of demonstrators at Hexham Market Place by North Yorkshire militia.

|Massacre of St George's Fields

|London, England

|{{Sort|0006|6–7}}

|

|Committed by the Horse Grenadier Guards and the Third Regiment of Foot Guards during a riot against the imprisonment of John Wilkes in St. George's Fields.

|Massacre of Tranent

|Tranent, East Lothian, Scotland

|12

|

|Townsfolk, including women and children, were killed by members of the Cinque Ports Dragoons, a fencible cavalry regiment, during a protest against the Act of Parliament to raise a Scots militia by a form of conscription.

|Peterloo Massacre

|Manchester, Lancashire, England

|{{Sort|015|15}}

|{{Sort|0400|400–700}}

|Committed by the 15th Hussars and the Manchester and Salford Yeomanry during a large outdoor political demonstration for male universal suffrage in St. Peter's Field. Led to the enacting of the Six Acts.

|Merthyr Rising

|Merthyr Tydfil, Wales

|{{Sort|0024-26|24-26}}

|{{Sort|070+|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 Highlander troops sent to retake Merthyr fired on protesters during a fight against a large crowd.

|Newport Rising

|Newport, Wales

|{{Sort|0022|22}}

|{{Sort|050+|50+}}

|Led by John Frost, between 1,000 and 5,000 Chartist sympathisers 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.

|Preston Strike of 1842

|Preston, Lancashire, England

|{{Sort|0004|4}}

|{{Sort|0003|3+}}

|The Mayor Samuel Horrocks read 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, the 72nd Highlanders fired into the crowd, shooting at least eight men.

|Clerkenwell explosion

|London, England

|12

|120

|The Irish Republican Brotherhood attempted to free a member named Ricard O'Sullivan Burke from Clerkenwell Prison by blowing up a wall with gunpowder. The explosion damaged several nearby buildings and killed twelve people. No prisoners escaped.

|Coventry bombing

|Coventry, England

|5

|70

|A bicycle bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army exploded 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 Barnes and James McCormick were convicted and executed for the crime.

|Aldershot bombing

|Aldershot, England

|7

|18

|A car bomb outside the headquarters of the British Army's 16th Parachute Regiment by Official IRA member Noel Jenkinson.

|M62 coach bombing

|West Yorkshire, England

|12

|38

|A bombing on a coach carrying servicemen and their families by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

|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.

|Birmingham pub bombings

|Birmingham, England

|21

|182

|Two bombs detonated in two Birmingham pubs by the PIRA.

|Denmark Place fire

|London, England

|{{Sort|0037|37}}

|

|An arson attack against a nightclub on Denmark Street by 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.

|Hungerford massacre

|Hungerford, England

|{{Sort|0016|16}}

|{{Sort|0015|15}}

|A spree shooting/murder–suicide. Led to the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988.

|Lockerbie bombing

|Lockerbie, Scotland

|{{Sort|00270|270}}

|

|A bombing on the Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie by Libyan terrorist Abdelbaset 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.

|Clerkenwell cinema fire

|London, England

|{{Sort|0011|11}}

|{{Sort|0013|13}}

|An arson attack against a cinema in Clerkenwell by patron who was angry at having to pay entry fee again after leaving.

|Dunblane massacre

|Dunblane, Scotland

|{{Sort|0017|17}}

|{{Sort|0015|15}}

|A school shooting/murder–suicide. Deadliest mass shooting in UK history.

|7 July 2005 London bombings

|London, England

|{{Sort|0052|52}}

|{{Sort|0700|700+}}

|Al-Qaeda attack.

Four coordinated terrorist Suicide bombings in central London between 08:50 and 09:47. It was the United Kingdom's worst terrorist incident since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

|Cumbria shootings

|Cumbria, England

|{{Sort|0012|12}}

|{{Sort|0011|11}}

|A killing spree/murder–suicide.

|Horden shooting

|Horden, England

|4

|1

|A mass shooting/murder–suicide.

|2017 Westminster attack

|London, England

|6

|49

|A vehicle and knife Islamist terrorist attack outside the Palace of Westminster.

|Manchester Arena bombing

|Manchester, England

|{{Sort|0022|23}}

|1017

|Islamist terrorist suicide attack at Manchester Arena after an Ariana Grande concert.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/22-lives-lost-every-victim-10498209|title=The 22 lost lives of Manchester attack as all victims named by police|work= Daily Record|date=25 May 2017}} In May 2018, the number of injured was revised to 800.{{cite web|date=16 May 2018|title=Arena bomb 'injured more than 800'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-44129386|access-date=16 May 2018|website=BBC News}}

|2017 London Bridge attack

|London, England

|{{Sort|0008|8}}

|{{Sort|0048|48}}

|Islamic State of Iraq and Syria attack/vehicle and knife attack.{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/chrissy-archibald-london-bridge-attack-10561331|title=First victim of London Bridge massacre identified as 'beautiful' bride-to-be |website=www.mirror.co.uk |first=Sophie|last=Evans|date=4 June 2017}}

|2021 Plymouth shooting

|Plymouth, England

|{{Sort|0006|6}}

|{{Sort|0002|2}}

|6 people killed including the gunman after a mass shooting in Keyham, Plymouth. The gunman was Jake William Davison.