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 and Anderida Where are the Roman Roads History of the Romney Marsh The Great Storm 1287AD List of Landscape Documents Local The Haestingas The Cinque Ports 914AD Alfred the Great's fort in Hastings Battle Museum Battle History Society Villagenet Local Gazeteer World War 2 Tank database Simon the Piman(Raspberry Pi) Tourist Guides for the area Romans First Invasion 55BC Second Invasion 43AD Roman roads in Britannia 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 Types of Roman Fortification List of Roman Documents 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 List of Saxon Chronicles Documents 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 1066AD  1 Background 1066AD  2 In Normandy 1066AD  3 Channel Crossing 1066AD  4 The Landing 1066AD  5 Feast after Landing 1066AD  6 Building the Forts 1066AD  7 Raiding the Area 1066AD  8 Warning to Harold 1066AD  9 Stamford Bridge 1066AD 10 Harold returns to London 1066AD 11 William is Alerted 1066AD 12 Exchange of Messages 1066AD 13 Defenses 1066AD 14 Harold Reconnoitres 1066AD 15 Preparations 1066AD 16 The Night Before 1066AD 17 The Battle 1066AD 18 Harold is Killed 1066AD 19 The English Rout 1066AD 20 After the Battle 1066AD 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 William's Ship List Norman/Viking Ships and stuff Norman bows and crossbows Harold was NOT killed by an arrow 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  List of 1066AD Documents List of 1066AD Weapons 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 Celtic name snippets 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 Loads of Village Translations Res Anglo Saxon Chronicles - 485AD - Mearcrædesburnan stæðe (Ælle,Cymen, Wlenca and Cissa )   The entry from the Chronicles Original text Her Ælle gefeaht wiþ Walas neah Mearcrædesburnan stæðe. Translation 485AD. This year Ælle defeated the Welsh near Mearcrædesburnan stæðe. Where might it be Mearcrædesburnan stæðe is made up of four snippets, Mear the sea, burnan a stream and stæðe - staith a landing point, There is no Saxon word crædes, but could have been a phonetic spelling of cræð which would be pronounced creth with the nearest word being cærse/cresse meaning watercress. Hence the translation for the place is the ‘sea landing place on the watercress stream’. If this is the case then the original spelling should be Mearcærsesburnan stæðe, or if it were phonetic spelling then Mearcræðesburnan stæðe. So we are looking along the South coast for a stream that flows into the sea where watercress can be grown. Watercress only grows in very clean streams found in chalk areas, traditionally the main watercress growing area in the UK is in Hampshire or West Sussex. So can we make anything out from the name, could it have been shortened perhaps to burnan staith. Locations originally stæðe (staith) have transformed over time to stead, sted, staith and stede, so this could now be burnan sted, and then shortened again to burnsted, bunstead or binsted. There is a place called Binsted in West Sussex which is on a chalk stream and would have been on the coast in Saxon times. It also has an ancient earthworks running North to South known as the War Dyke probably build to protect Chichester, which Aelle would have had to pass to get to Chichester. We know Chichester is in Sussex, so its likely that for Aelle to captured the town he would have to pass through Binsted as it was on the old Roman main coast road from Arundel to Chichester. Benestede is recorded in the Domesday book so is an old place. Possible interpretation of the Chronicles Mearcrædesburnan stæðe is most likely at Binsted, where there is an ancient earthworks that probably was designed to defend Chichester, once these troop had been defeated then Chichester would have been open to the Saxons, and they would easily have taken the city. It would seem likely that Ælle taking Chichester would have been an important story for the old Chroniclers, however no evidence of this has been found, hence a battle at Binsted which could have been the outer boundary of Chichester would have been important enough to be recorded. This area was the ancestral home of the Regnensis who had their capital at Chichester(Noviomagus Reginorum) so once this was taken by Aelle, he had control of the area. A great deal of conjecture by historians has said that a possible location for this battle was at Town Creep near modern Battle, but this area would have been occupied by the Haestingas and as they appear to be Saxon and friendly with the Suth Saxons this would seem very unlikely. Another factor that makes this less likely is that this battle took place 5 years before Anderida was taken, and as Battle is further East of Anderida and only about 10 miles away, you would have expected the Saxons to have taken Anderida before Mearcrædesburnan stæðe, if it were located here. Map showing the Battles of Aelle, Cymen, Wlencing & Cissa   Map generated using Google My Maps 2024 - showing the Landscape, modern Counties and sea in 477AD Please Note: this map is my interpretation of the Anglo Saxon Chronicles entries relating to Aelle, Cymen, Wlencing & Cissa and their take over of Sussex, the thin purple line shows the modern Sussex boundary. Aelle controlled West Sussex up to Andredsweald, and the Haestingas controlled East Sussex both of these areas are shaded in light purple. The logic for the coastal changes and the Forest of Andredsweald can be viewed on the following pages: Roman Roads in Britain The Great Forest of Andredsweald - Anglo Saxon Chronicles Landscape - Was the sea level in Saxon times at Pevensey 4 to 5 metres higher ? Was the high tide in Saxon times 5 metres higher ? - the Wash Landscape - The History of the Romney Marsh in maps(Pre-Roman to Modern times) Roman Locations that have not been identified and roads that just terminate Copyright saxonhistory.co.uk 2013 - 2024 Contact Simon Author Simon M - Last updated - 2024-10-20 06:09:40 All pages on our site (Sitemap)