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Anglo Saxon Chronicles - 514AD - Stuff and Wihtgar
 
The entry from the Chronicles

Original text
Her cuomon Westseaxe in Bretene mid .iii. scipum in þa stowe þe is gecueden Cerdicesora, ⁊ Stuf ⁊ Wihtgar, ⁊ fuhton wiþ Brettas ⁊ hie gefliemdon.

Translation
514AD. This year came the West-Saxons into Britain, with three ships, at the place that is called Cerdic's-ore. And Stuff and Wihtgar fought with the Britons, and put them to flight.

An Interpretation of the Chronicles

Stuff and Whitgar land at Cerdicesora (Itchenor) with three ships so probably only have about 60 men.

They fight the Welsh sometime later during 514AD.

We know that in 530AD Cerdic and Cynric took Wihtgarabyrg which consists of three snippets 'Wiht' named after the isle of Wight 'gara' which means 'a corner of land' and 'byrg' a burh 'a castle', hence 'the castle on the edge of the hills on the Isle of Wight' (probably Carisbrook) and later in 534AD they gave the whole of the Isle of Wight to Stuff and Whitgar.

This implies that Stuff and Whitgar had already landed on the island, but had not been able to take the whole island.

If they landed on the island, there is only one place they could have landed which would have been defendable by their small force and that is the area around Bembridge which was an island at the time, and would make a good small kingdom. Bembridge translates from the two Saxon snippets 'Bem' from 'bán' meaning 'bones' and 'bridge' meaning a bridge, hence 'the bridge of bones', possibly a battle site, this island would have had easy trade routes back to Port and Portsmouth and to Cerdic and Cynric at Itchenor.

There is also coincidentally an area on Bembridge island called Ethel point, this can be translated from the Saxon 'eþel' pronounced Ethyl and means 'Fatherland', 'point' is a later Norman addition, so this could help in the above interpretation.

'Binbridge Isle' is published on John Speeds map of the Isle of Wight from 1611, and although not quite an island on the map it shows most of the boundary of the island.

Please see our article Landscape - Was the sea level in Saxon times at Pevensey 4 to 5 metres higher ? that explains the sea levels in Early Saxon times and Landscape - High Tide changes in the last 2000 years


Possible landing place of Stuff and Whitgar
 
Possible landing place of Stuff and Whitgar in 514AD
 

Possible trade routes between Stuff and Whitgar, Port and Cerdic
 
Possible trade routes between Stuff and Whitgar, Port and Cerdic in 514AD
 

Map showing the Battles of Cerdic, Cynric and the West Saxons
 
Map showing the Battles of Cerdic, Cynric and the West Saxons
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 Cerdic, Cynric and the West Saxons and their take over of Hampshire, the thin purple line shows the modern Hampshire boundary.

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
 
Conclusion

The majority of this article is conjecture, but it does seem to fit the history and the landscape, but hopefully this has given you a different view of the Anglo Saxon Chronicles.




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Author Simon M - Last updated - 2024-10-19 14:30:55
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