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Anglo Saxon Chronicles - 914AD - Alfred the Great and the Burghal Hideage
 
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The Burgal Hidage is a collection of a number of medieval texts that describe the location of defensive forts around the state of Wessex during the time of Alfred the Great. The document was named the Burghal Hidage by F. W. Maitland in 1897 after a great deal of research into the subject.

The documents list the major defensive forts anti clockwise around Wessex starting at the unproven location of 'Eorpeburnan' somewhere on the Kent,Sussex or Surrey borders and ending at the last fort in the list at Southwark on the Thames .

The Anglo Saxon word Burgh or more correctly Burh describes a defensive position or fort usually on a hill with a defensive ditch and bank topped with wooden walls and an internal regular layout to help the defenders. These Burhs were mostly built during the reign of Alfred the Great to defend Wessex against the Viking invaders.

Each Burh has a number of hides associated with it, which describes the size of the Burh and its defensive population.


Size of the Forts ▲
 
The original starting text reads
To anes æcere bræde on Ɵealstillinge 7 þære Ɵære gebirirgeað. xvi hida Gif ælc hid byþ be anum men gemannod þonne mæg man gesettan ælce gyrde mid feoƟer mannun. þonne gebyreð to tƟentigan gyrdan on Ɵealstillinge. hundeahtatig hida.
This translates to
For one acre breadth of wall-setting & manning is required 16 hides, if each hide is one man, then the manpower to be set for each pole is with four men. Then is required for twenty poles of wall- setting eighty hides.

with the finishing text reading
Gif se ymbegang mara biþ. þonne mæg man eaþe þone ofereacan geþencan of þisse tale for þon ealning to anum furlange gebyreð sixtig manna. 7. c. þonne biþ ælc gyrd mid feoƟer mannum geset
This translates to
If the surrounding is greater, then the manpower can easily be reckoned from this assessing, since there is always required for one furlong breadth sixty men & 100; then each pole is set with four men.

This means that from the first statement:
An acres width of wall(aprox 208ft) needs 16 hides to build - this equates to about 13ft per hide, but this appears to be the construction dimensions.
A pole of wall(16.5 ft) requires 4 defenders and 20 poles requires 80 men, and 1 defender is required for each 4ft of wall which is provided by 1 hide.

Therefore a hide defends 4ft of wall

From the table shown above the Hastings Burh of 500 hides would have a wall of 125 poles so about 2000ft(aprox 610mtrs) of wall which would enclose a 500ft square of land(2.3 hectares) which would have needed 500 men to defend.

wall length
hides ft mtrs sq mtr hectares
Eorpeburnan 324 1296 395 9753 0.98
Hastings 500 2000 610 23226 2.32
Lewes 1300 5200 1585 157006 15.70
Burpham 720 2880 878 48161 4.82
Chichester 1500 6000 1829 209032 20.90
Portchester 500 2000 610 23226 2.32
Southampton 150 600 183 2090 0.21
Winchester 2400 9600 2926 535122 53.51
Wilton 1400 5600 1707 182090 18.21
Chisbury 700 2800 853 45522 4.55
Shaftesbury 700 2800 853 45522 4.55
Twynam (Christchurch) 470 1880 573 20522 2.05
Wareham 1600 6400 1951 237832 23.78
Bridport 760 3040 927 53661 5.37
Exeter 734 2936 895 50052 5.01
Halwell 300 1200 366 8361 0.84
Lydford 140 560 171 1821 0.18
Pilton 360 1440 439 12040 1.20
Watchet 513 2052 625 24449 2.44
Axbridge 400 1600 488 14864 1.49
Lyng 100 400 122 929 0.09
Langport 600 2400 732 33445 3.34
Bath 1000 4000 1219 92903 9.29
Malmesbury 1200 4800 1463 133780 13.38
Cricklade 1500 6000 1829 209032 20.90
Oxford 1400 5600 1707 182090 18.21
Wallingford 2400 9600 2926 535122 53.51
Buckingham 1600 6400 1951 237832 23.78
Sashes 1000 4000 1219 92903 9.29
Eashing 600 2400 732 33445 3.34
Southwark 1800 7200 2195 301006 30.10
Worcester 1200 4800 1463 133780 13.38
Warwick 2400 9600 2926 535122 53.51
 
Likely Locations of the Burh's ▲

The images below are made up from, to the left, based on Google My Maps overlayed with the fort area, those to the right are from the National Library of Scotland with the 'OS Six inch map 1888-1915' overlayed with a 'Lidar DSM 1M' lidar image.
 
Eorpeburnan -324 hides ▲
Eorpburnan actually spelt eorþ burnan means the earthy stream
Most likely location is modern Orpington which translates from eorþ ing tun meaning the earth fort on the hill
Hastings 500 hides
The fort was probably at Baldslow down which derives from baels hleow dun meaning the fire refuge on the hill
Lewes 1300 hides
probably located on offham hill - Lewes derives from hleow aes which translates to the refuge by the river
Burpham 720 hides
Burpham from burþ ham which translates to the fortress settlement in the valley
 

Chichester - 1500 hides ▲
 
Chichester Burghal Hideage Fort
Chichester derives from chyee ceaster which translates to the roman fortress of the Crows
The area covered by the image is the boundary of the old Roman fortress which has a boundary of 2140m and an area of 34.4 hectares.
 

Portchester - 500 hides ▲
 
Portchester Burghal Hideage Fort
Portchester derives from port ceaster which translates to the roman fortress with the harbour. The area covered by the image has a boundary of 740m and an area of 3.42 hectares.
 

Southampton - 150 hides ▲
 
Possible Southampton Burghal Hideage Fort
Southampton derives from suþ þam tun which translates to the southern wet place on the hill
Please Note: It is difficult to identify a site in Southampton due to the sheer number of buildings that have been erected since 914AD. However I have noticed that the Burhs are sometimes on playing fields, and this one is called Hoglands that may have been derived from 'Hleow land' meaning the land where the burh is, so that is my Guess. There seem to be ground marks on the Google maps where the orange patch is located.. The area covered by the orange image has a boundary of 198m and an area of 0.24 hectares.
 

Winchester - 2400 hides ▲
 
Winchester Burghal Hideage Fort
Winchester derives from win ceaster which translates to the roman fortress of the wine
The area covered by the image is the boundary of the old Roman fortress which has a boundary of 3000m and an area of 58.6 hectares.
 

Wilton - 1400 hides ▲
 
Wilton Burhghal Hideage fort
The most likely location for this fort was at Old Sarum the old Roman fort on the junction of two major Roman roads. The area covered by the image has a boundary of 1.4km and an area of 15.0 hectares
 

Chisbury - 700 hides ▲
 
Chisbury Burghal Hideage Fort
Chisbury derived from 'cise byrg' - the cheese fort
The most likely location for this fort was at Chisbury Camp an old Iron Age fort.The area covered by the image has a boundary of 866m and an area of 4.92 hectares.
Shaftesbury 700 hides
The most likely location for this fort was at Shaftesbury Castle an old Iron Age fort
Twynam (now called Christchurch, Dorset) 470 hides
The most likely location for this fort was on 'St Catherines Hill' an old Roman signalling station
Wareham 1600 hides
The most likely location for this fort was in Wareham itself, wær ham meaning sea valley settlement
 

Bridport - 760 hides ▲
 
Bridport Burghal Hideage Fort
probably located on Sloes Hill which is likely to be derived from eas hloes hyll which translates to the riverside refuge on the hill
Exeter 734 hides
The most likely location for this fort was the Roman fort in Exeter(Isca)
 

Halwell - 300 hides ▲
 
Halwell Burghal Hideage Fort
The most likely location for this fort was the hill fort at Stanborough Camp, stane borough means the stone fortress, or the fortress on the roman road. The area covered by the image has a boundary of 345m and an area of 0.91 hectares.
 

Lydford - 140 hides ▲
 
Lydford Burghal Hideage Fort
The most likely location for this fort at Lydford is on ths small hill near to Eastern Cleve wood, on modern maps is marked as Lydford Norman ringwork. The area covered by the orange area has a boundary of 190m and an area of 0.27 hectares.
Pilton 360 hides
The most likely location was an old iron age fort called RoboroughCamp who's name could have derived from the Saxon hleow borough meaning the old roman fort refuge
Watchet 513 hides
The most likely location was an old iron age fort called Dawes Castle
Axbridge 400 hides
The fort was probably on 'Callow Hill' which derives from Cal hleow Hyll meaning cabbage refuge hill
 

Lyng - 100 hides ▲
 
Lyng Burghal Hideage Fort
This location must be near Athelney where Alfred the Great fled in 878AD this small fort is most likely located on Burrow mump - which was Burh hleow munt - meaning the fort refuge on the mound. The area covered by the image has a boundary of 117m and an area of 0.94 hectares
 
Langport - 600 hides ▲
Meaning the long port as the sea reached here in the times of Wessex. The fort was most likely to be found in the location of Combe quarry but any evidence would be long since removed.
Bath1000 hides
The location for the Burh is in the old Roman center of the town.
Malmesbury1200 hides
Probably on the Holloway road translated from hoh hleow ǽ which means the promontory refuge on the river
Cricklade 1500 hides
The fort was most likely in Cricklade - the name derives from crycc gelad which means the strong stick road, which refers to the well built straight Roman Ermin Street from Speen to Cirencester that crosses the Thames at this point.
Oxford 1400 hides
Wallingford 2400 hides
The fort was most likely in the town where the current town walls are.
Buckingham 1600 hides
Sashes 1000 hides
 

Eashing - 600 hides ▲
 
Eashing Burghal Hideage Fort
 
The fort was most likely at Peper Harow as this derives from piþa hár hleów meaning the old pith refuge . The likely location is on Warren Hill just above the river Wey. The area covered by the image has a boundary of 690m and an area of 3.93 hectares.
Southwark 1800 hides
The fort was probably somewhere near Crystal Palace or the high ground near Forest Hill, but modern buildings would have removed any evidence
Worcester 1200 hides
The fort was most likely near Hallow park which derives from har hleów meaning the the old refuge
Warwick 2400 hides
The fort was most likely near Woodloes farm which derives from wudu hleów es meaning the the people of the wood refuge
 

Map of the Burghal Hideage Forts  ▲
 
Boundary of the Burghal Hideage Forts This Google map shows the location of the forts, we have joined the outer forts to get an approximation of the area that Wessex occupied at this time. See below for a more likely boundary
 

Map of the probable Boundary of Wessex AD914  ▲
 
Map of the probable boundary of Wessex 914AD This Google map shows the most likely boundary for Wessex.
Political layout of Britain in early 900AD This map shows the Political layout of the country in 880AD showing the location of Alfred's Burhs in relation to the surrounding Kingdoms.

The red line shows Offas Dyke built to defend Mercia from the Welsh, but by the time of this map Mercia had been absorbed into the Viking controlled areas.

As you can see, the boundary of Wessex is surrounded by Burhs, with others inside these boundaries, this would imply a massive build up of defenses, however a lot of these locations were already old Celtic Hillforts, this reduced building costs for Wessex and increases the speed at which these defenses can be incorporated.



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Author Simon M - Last updated - 2025-10-08 10:37:57
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