Cymenshore (also called
Cymen's Shore or
Cymenes Ora) is the place in
Southern EnglandSouthern England, The South and The South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands and East Anglia. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region...
where according to the
Anglo-Saxon ChronicleThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The annals were initially created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great. Multiple manuscript copies were made and distributed to monasteries...
, Ælle of Sussex landed in 477 A.D. and battled the
WelshThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing and Cissa. The landing place is believed to be named after one of Ælle's sons and from the
Old English means Cymens
shore,
beach or
landing place.
[Richardson.
]
Cymenshore (also called
Cymen's Shore or
Cymenes Ora) is the place in
Southern EnglandSouthern England, The South and The South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands and East Anglia. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region...
where according to the
Anglo-Saxon ChronicleThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The annals were initially created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great. Multiple manuscript copies were made and distributed to monasteries...
, Ælle of Sussex landed in 477 A.D. and battled the
WelshThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing and Cissa. The landing place is believed to be named after one of Ælle's sons and from the
Old English means Cymens
shore,
beach or
landing place.
[Richardson. The Owers - Discussion of derivation of the name Cymen Ora, p.57]
Selsey Area
Evidence for Selsey Area
If Ælle actually existed, then most historians agree that he would have landed in the
SelseySelsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about seven miles south of Chichester, in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, a small island almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea...
area.
The primary evidence to support this conjecture is based on Kelly's assertion that Cymenshore, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is the same place as Cumenshore as described in the
Anglo-Saxon ChartersAnglo-Saxon Charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. They are usually written on parchment, in Latin but often with sections in the vernacular, describing the bounds of estates, which often correspond closely to...
S.232. Also Margaret Gelling & Ann Cole state that There's no obstacle to connecting the 'Cumeneshore' of BCS 64 (Sawyer 232: a 13th c. MS) with the 'Cymenes ora' of the A-S Chronicle s.a. 477
.
The Anglo-Saxon Charter was a legal document that defined the land award to St Wilfrid at Selsey by King Caedwalla. The authenticity of both the chronicles and charters have been challenged by historians, however the place-names on the charter
Anglo-Saxon Charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. They are usually written on parchment, in Latin but often with sections in the vernacular, describing the bounds of estates, which often correspond closely to...
are generally believed to have been genuine. The relevant section, to do with the boundary of the land, in Latin is:
Ab introitu portus qui appellatur Anglice Wyderinges, post retractum mare in Cumeneshore, sic uersus occidentalem plagam iuxta mare usque Rumbruge,... .
and the translation is:
from the entrance of the harbour which is called in English Wyderinges round where the sea falls back at Cumenshore then towards the western shore at Rumbruge..".
A further source is from the
Charter of Byrthelm, this was to do with the settlement of a dispute over the See at Selsey, it confirms that the boundary is
from Wytherings Mouth and Cymenshoran in the east to Hormouth in the west.
Rumbruge/ Rumbridge (alias "thri beorg"- three barrows), is believed to have been an islet and trading port off southwest coast of the Manhood Peninsula, that has long since succumbed to the sea.
Wytherings mouth was part of what is now
Pagham HarbourPagham Harbour is a natural harbour on England's south coast. It is south of the city of Chichester and near the towns of Pagham and Selsey.Geographically it is the smallest and most easterly of the harbours of the Solent....
.
Pagham Harbour
Pagham Harbour currently is a nature reserve, however in earlier times was a working harbour with three ports, one at the western end at Sidlesham Mill known as Wardur, one at the other at the entrance to the harbour and known as Charlton and one on the Pagham side known as the Port of Wythering (Wyderinges). The port of Wardur was part of 'New Haven' a development in the Midddle Ages. The Port of Wythering was overrun by the sea in the 13th Century and the whole harbour eventually silted up and ceased to be navigable, except for small craft.
The Owers
Just off the tip of Selsey Bill, to approximately 11 km SSE, are groups of ledges and rocks known as the Owers.
Outer and Middle Owers
Some historians such as Hunter-Blair indentify the Outer Owers and Middle Owers as the landing place for Ælle. However this is problematical as the coastal erosion pattern means that this section of the Owers would not have been part of the shoreline for at least 5000 years. The Outer Owers are approximately 11 km off Selsey Bill and the erosion pattern suggests that the shore would have been 2 – 3 km seaward 5000 years ago.
The Mixon
To the south of Selsey Bill lies the Mixon rocks.
Richardson speculates that the name Owers could be derived from the
ora in
Cymensora, he also suggests that the Mixon could be the site of
cidade velha (the Old City) and therefore
Cymensora.. Archaelogical evidence demonstrates that this would have been the shoreline during the Roman occupation.
The Mixon shoreline not being breached by the sea until the 10th or 11th century.
Stenton also believes that
Cymensora is south of Selsey Bill.
Keynor
The Manor of Keynor is situated at the western end of Pagham Harbour.
Selsey based historians Edward Heron-Allen and Francis Mee favour the Keynor area of
SidleshamSidlesham is a small village and civil parish five kilometres south of Chichester in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It has a small primary school. The area has had a Prebendary since mediaeval times...
for Cymenshore, they suggest that the name Keynor is derived from Cymensora.
However Magaret Gelling asserts that Keyn-or actually means Cow - Shore in
Old English.
Ouse-Cuckmere
Welch believes that the location for
Cymenshore is more likely to be in the Ouse-Cuckmere area of East Sussex, his reasoning is that there is no archaelogical evidence to support a landing at Selsey. However Richardson states that the place names with the
Old English,
ora element of
Cymensora are very common along the Hampshire and West Sussex coastline but not around the Ouse-Cuckmere area. There is also a suggestion that the archaelogy off the Selsey coast has just not been fully realised yet
Shoreham
Shoreham has also been cited as a possible location, for example in 1906
Hilaire BellocJoseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century...
in his
Hills and the Sea when discussing St
WilfridWilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered the religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
he said:
...But those memories were getting worse and worse, for it was nearly two hundred years since the ships of Ælle had sailed into Shoreham (which showed him to be a man of immense determination, for it is a most difficult harbour, and there were then no piers and lights)--it was nearly two hundred years, and there was only the least little glimmering twilight left of the old day.
See also
- Reno argues that Cymenshore was on the Welsh borders and that Ælle waged his campaign there rather than the South Coast.
- Wilfrid
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered the religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
- Ælle of Sussex
External links
- Sidlesham Parish Site - Information on how to find Keynor - Note Keynor Lane on map and Earnley (suggested area for Rumbruge)immediately to the west.
- St Thomas a Becket - Parish Church at the East end of Pagham Harbour near to Wythering. St Wilfrid gave Pagham to the Archbishops of Canterbury when he left Selsey, and they are still the patrons of this church.
- A Church Near You - Map of the modern Parish of Saint Peter, Selsey the Northern boundary remains relatively unchanged since the charter. Note that it comes into the harbour at the Wythering channel and exits near Keynor.
- SCOPAC - Standing Conference on Problems Affecting the Coastline's website.
- - Movable Type Scripts - Useful site for calculating distances based on the latitude/ longtitude bearings. It will also provide a map of the locations. You can use this to calculate the distances between Selsey Bill and the various Owers rocks.