Anglo Saxon History Home Background Landscape Changing Landscape and Language Sea Levels in AD400(Pevensey) Sea Levels in AD400(The Wash) Sea level changes last 2000 years Andredsweald Modern Andredsweald at Domesday Where is the Forest Boundary Where are the Roman Roads History of the Romney Marsh Stuff The Haestingas The Cinque Ports Romans First Invasion 55BC Second Invasion 43AD Ptolemy Geographica Tribes MAP-Margary Roman Roads MAP-Roman Roads South East MAP-Roman Roads South West MAP-Roman Roads Wales MAP-Roman Roads South Midlands MAP-Roman Roads South Yorkshire MAP-Roman Locations Norfolk MAP-Roman Locations Essex MAP-Wealden Roads/Bloomeries Wealden Bloomeries 1st Century Wealden Bloomeries 2nd Century Wealden Bloomeries 3rd Century Wealden Bloomeries 4th Century MAP-Antonine Itinery I Roman Industry in the Brede Valley Decline in Roman Wealden Ironworking The Gallic Empire 260AD - 274AD Saxon Chronicles 449AD Hengest & Horsa arrive 455AD Hengest & Horsa defeat Wurtgern 457AD Hengest & Horsa take over Kent 460AD Hæstinga Saxons arrive 477AD Cymensora 485AD Suth Saxons Mercredesburnan 491AD Suth Saxons Pevensey 914AD Burghal Hideage Locations - 449AD Ebbsfleet Locations - 455AD Agelesþrep Locations - 485AD Mearcredesburnan Stede Locations - 914AD Eorpeburnan 1066 Battle Documentary Evidence Available Documents  1 Anglo Saxon Chronicles  2 Battle Abbey Chronicles  3 Bayeux Tapestry  4 Carmen Guy d'Amiens  5 Florence of Worcester  6 Henry of Huntingdon  7 Master Wace  8 Orderic Vitalis(Gesta)  9 William of Jumièges(Gesta) 10 William of Malmesbury 11 Quedam Exceptiones Reference to Locations Phases of the Events Phases  1 Background  2 In Normandy  3 Channel Crossing  4 The Landing  5 Feast after Landing  6 Building the Forts  7 Raiding the Area  8 Warning to Harold  9 Stamford Bridge 10 Harold returns to London 11 William is Alerted 12 Exchange of Messages 13 Defenses 14 Harold Reconnoitres 15 Preparations 16 The Night Before 17 The Battle 18 Harold is Killed 19 The English Rout 20 After the Battle 21 The Malfosse Warriors, Weapons & Snippets Saxon - Huscarl Saxon - Fyrd(Fyrð) Senlac Hill The Malfosse The Hoar Apple Tree The Shield Wall Salt Production near Hastings The Battle of Jengland 851AD The Time Team view of the Battle 1066AD Landscape Details 1066AD Sailing from Normandy 1066AD Norman Landing 1066AD Possible Fort 1066AD to Pevensey and Hastings 1066AD Manors Wasted 1066AD Manors All 1066AD Warning to Harold 1066AD Harold to Hastings  1086AD Domesday Boundary of Anderida Domesday Hursts Post Domesday Hursts Domesday Manors Wasted UK Norfolk Salt Production Salt Production near Hastings The Wash at 1086 The Humber estuary at 1086 Domesday County details B Bedfordshire Domesday Population Berkshire Domesday Population Buckinghamshire Domesday Population Domesday County details C Cambridgeshire Domesday Population Cheshire Domesday Population Cornwall Domesday Population Domesday County details D Derbyshire Domesday Population Devon Domesday Population Dorset Domesday Population Domesday County details E Essex Domesday Population Domesday County details G Gloucestershire Domesday Population Domesday County details H Hampshire Domesday Population Herefordshire Domesday Population Hertfordshire Domesday Population Huntingdonshire Domesday Population Domesday County details K Kent Domesday Population Domesday County details L Leicestershire Domesday Population Lincolnshire Domesday Population Domesday County details M Middlesex Domesday Population Domesday County details N Norfolk Domesday Population Northamptonshire Domesday Population Nottinghamshire Domesday Population Domesday County details O Oxfordshire Domesday Population Domesday County details R Rutland Domesday Population Domesday County details S Shropshire Domesday Population Somerset Domesday Population Staffordshire Domesday Population Suffolk Domesday Population Surrey Domesday Population Sussex Domesday Population Domesday County details W Warwickshire Domesday Population Wiltshire Domesday Population Worcestershire Domesday Population Domesday County details Y Yorkshire Domesday Population Place names Translate my Location Jutish name snippets Roman name snippets Saxon name snippets Viking name snippets Norman name snippets Modern name snippets Villages containing EY/EYE/SEA Villages containing HAM Villages containing TON Villages containing CASTLE Sussex Locations with ING Domesday Sussex with ING Kent Locations with ING Sussex Locations with HURST Domesday Sussex with HURST Res 1. Alfred the Great and the Burghal Hideage AD914 Source 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. List of Forts The Burhs listed in the Burghal Hidage were as follows Eorpeburnan   324 hides Eorpburnan actually spelt 'eorþ burnan' means the 'earthy stream' Most likely location is modern Orpington which means 'the earth fort on the hill' a second alternative is modern Hadlow Down which derives from 'hæƿ hleow dun' and translates to 'the heath refuge 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 mount caburn - 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 derives from 'chyee ceaster' which translates to 'the roman fortress of the Crows' Portchester   500 hides Portchester derives from 'port ceaster' which translates to 'the roman fortress with the harbour' Southampton   150 hides Southampton derives from 'suþ þam tun' which translates to 'the southern wet place on the hill' Winchester   2400 hides Winchester derives from 'win ceaster' which translates to 'the roman fortress of the wine' Wilton   1400 hides The most likely location for this fort was at 'Old Sarum' the old Roman fort on the junction of two major Roman roads Chisbury   700 hides The most likely location for this fort was at 'Chisbury Camp' an old Iron Age fort 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 Bridport   760 hides 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 The most likely location for this fort was the hill fort at Stanborough Camp Lydford   140 hides The most likely location for this fort a fort at Lydford Pilton   360 hides The most likely location was an old iron age fort called Roborough Castle 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 This location is near Athelney where Alfred the Great fled in 878AD this small fort is most likely located on Athelney Hill - Athelney derives from the Saxon 'aþ(pronounced ath) el' - an oath taker(someone who has taken the kings oath - royal family) ney derived from 'en æg' - the island people 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. Bath   1000 hides Malmesbury   1200 hides Cricklade   1500 hides Oxford   1400 hides Wallingford   2400 hides Buckingham   1600 hides Sashes   1000 hides Eashing   600 hides Southwark   1800 hides Worcester   1200 hides Warwick   2400 hides 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 Map 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  This Google map shows the most likely boundary for Wessex. Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2023 Contact Simon Author Simon M - Last updated - 2023-11-02 14:23:37 All pages on our site (Sitemap)