Hingston Down is a hill spur approximately one mile east of
MoretonhampsteadMoretonhampstead is a small market town and civil parish in Devon, England. It lies on the edge of Dartmoor and is notable for having the longest one-word name of any place in England. The parish church is dedicated to St. Andrew.[ George Oliver and John Pike Jones , 1828, Exeter: E...]
and 10 miles west of
ExeterExeter is a city and district in Devon, England; it is the county town of Devon. Exeter is located approximately northeast of Plymouth, and southwest of Bristol, on the River Exe. The city has a population of 111,076 according to the 2001 Census....
in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
. Some historians now claim that this was the site of the 838 battle between a
CornishThe Cornish are the people of Cornwall, the most south-westerly part of England, and the United Kingdom. As an ethnic group, the Cornish are interpreted as modern Celts, the lineal descendants of the ancient Britons who inhabited southern and central Great Britain...
/
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
alliance against the West Saxons rather than at the site at
Hingston DownHingston Down is a hill not far from Gunnislake near Callington in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.This is possibly the Hingston Down mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which says that in 835 Egbert king of the West Saxons defeated an army of Vikings and Cornish at Hengestdun = "Stallion Hill"...
near Callington,
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
.
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...
refers to a
Hengestesdun, (
"StallionA stallion is a male horse that has not been neutered, castrated, or gelded.Stallions will follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck as well as a somewhat more muscular...
HillA hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of scarp slope without a well-defined summit A hill is a landform that extends above the...
") and says
that in 838
"There came a great ship army to the West Wealas where they were joined by the people who commenced war against EcgberhtEgbert was King of Wessex from 802 until 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Egbert was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Egbert returned and took the throne.Little is known of the first twenty years of Egbert's reign, but...
, the West Saxon king.
Hingston Down is a hill spur approximately one mile east of
MoretonhampsteadMoretonhampstead is a small market town and civil parish in Devon, England. It lies on the edge of Dartmoor and is notable for having the longest one-word name of any place in England. The parish church is dedicated to St. Andrew.[ George Oliver and John Pike Jones , 1828, Exeter: E...]
and 10 miles west of
ExeterExeter is a city and district in Devon, England; it is the county town of Devon. Exeter is located approximately northeast of Plymouth, and southwest of Bristol, on the River Exe. The city has a population of 111,076 according to the 2001 Census....
in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
. Some historians now claim that this was the site of the 838 battle between a
CornishThe Cornish are the people of Cornwall, the most south-westerly part of England, and the United Kingdom. As an ethnic group, the Cornish are interpreted as modern Celts, the lineal descendants of the ancient Britons who inhabited southern and central Great Britain...
/
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
alliance against the West Saxons rather than at the site at
Hingston DownHingston Down is a hill not far from Gunnislake near Callington in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.This is possibly the Hingston Down mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which says that in 835 Egbert king of the West Saxons defeated an army of Vikings and Cornish at Hengestdun = "Stallion Hill"...
near Callington,
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
.
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...
refers to a
Hengestesdun, (
"StallionA stallion is a male horse that has not been neutered, castrated, or gelded.Stallions will follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck as well as a somewhat more muscular...
HillA hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of scarp slope without a well-defined summit A hill is a landform that extends above the...
") and says
that in 838
"There came a great ship army to the West Wealas where they were joined by the people who commenced war against EcgberhtEgbert was King of Wessex from 802 until 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s Egbert was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric's death in 802 Egbert returned and took the throne.Little is known of the first twenty years of Egbert's reign, but...
, the West Saxon king. When he heard this, he proceeded with his army against them and fought with them at Hengestesdun where he put to flight both the Wealas and the Danes."
It has been claimed that the Hingston Down, Devon site is the more probable site as Ecgberht's army would have been based east of
ExeterExeter is a city and district in Devon, England; it is the county town of Devon. Exeter is located approximately northeast of Plymouth, and southwest of Bristol, on the River Exe. The city has a population of 111,076 according to the 2001 Census....
and the Danish fleet is believed to have landed at
Plymouth SoundPlymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its south west and south east corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical...
. An ancient trackway (now largely followed by the B3212 road) runs from
PlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
across
DartmoorDartmoor is an area of moorland in the centre of Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops , providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
in a virtual straight line towards Exeter. The trackway begins to descend from the moor close to Moretonhampstead and it is claimed that Ecgberht's West Saxon army lay in wait with his army concealed in the thickly wooded Teign
ValleyIn geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
. This position would have provided a quick retreat of 10 miles to Exeter if the attack had not gone to plan. The Wealas and the Danes were
"put to flight" back across the wilds of Dartmoor. In 838 the whole of Dartmoor and the
South HamsSouth Hams is a local government district on the south coast of Devon, England with its headquarters in the town of Totnes. It contains the towns of Dartmouth, Kingsbridge, Ivybridge, Salcombe — the largest of which is Ivybridge with a population of 12,056....
was still exclusively
CornishThe Cornish are the people of Cornwall, the most south-westerly part of England, and the United Kingdom. As an ethnic group, the Cornish are interpreted as modern Celts, the lineal descendants of the ancient Britons who inhabited southern and central Great Britain...
territory and the
ExeEXE is the common filename extension denoting an executable file in the DOS, OpenVMS, Microsoft Windows, Symbian, and OS/2 operating systems....
-
TawThe River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor. It reaches the Bristol Channel 72km away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge.-Watercourse:...
line was the border between Cornish and West Saxon lands. It was nearly a full century later in 936 when King Athelstan fixed the east bank of the
River TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . At its mouth, the Tamar flows into the Hamoaze where it joins with the River Lynher before entering Plymouth Sound...
as the boundary between Anglo-Saxon Wessex and
CelticCeltic nations is a term used to describe territories in North-West Europe in which that area's own Celtic languages and cultural traits have largely survived...
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
, as up until 927 the two peoples had lived together in Exeter "
aequo jure" - as equals..
See also
- Dumnonia
Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom, or group of sub-kingdoms, in sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries, located in the farther parts of the south-west peninsula of Great Britain...
- Cornovii (Cornish)
The Cornovii were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the far South West peninsula of Great Britain, during the Iron Age, Roman and post-Roman periods and gave their name to Cornwall or Kernow....
- Kingdom of Cornwall
The Kingdom of Cornwall or Kernow or West Wales existed during the sub-Roman and Early Middle Ages in Great Britain's south-western peninsula.-Name:...
- Institute of Cornish Studies
The Institute of Cornish Studies started in 1970/71 as a research centre jointly funded by Exeter University and Cornwall County Council, with three core staff being employees of the University of Exeter .-The Thomas era:...
- Donyarth
King Donyarth is thought to have been a 9th century King of Cornwall, now part of the United Kingdom.He is known solely from an inscription on 'King Doniert's Stone', a 9th century cross shaft which stands in St Cleer parish in Cornwall . His social status is not recorded there...
- Huwal of the West Welsh
Huwal , "King of the West Welsh" was a Celtic monarch of the early-mid 10th century recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle...