Battle of Brunanburh - Battle Site

Battle Site

The location of the battle appears in various forms in the sources: Brunanburh (in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle or the chronicle of John of Worcester, or in accounts derived from them), Brunandune (Aethelweard), Brunnanwerc or Bruneford or Weondune (Symeon of Durham and accounts derived from him), Brunefeld or Bruneford (William of Malmesbury and accounts derived from him), Duinbrunde (Scottish traditions), Brun (Welsh traditions), plaines of othlynn (Annals of Clonmacnoise), and Vinheithr (Egil's Saga), among others.

The name of Bromborough, a settlement in the Wirral, may be derived from Old English Brunanburh (meaning 'Brun's fort'). While the location will likely never be known with certainty, additional evidence has been claimed associating Brunanburh with Bromborough, taken from evidence of history, folklore studies, and literature. According to Michael Livingston, the case for a location in the Wirral has strong support among current historians. Additional onomastic arguments have been used to connect Dingesmere (a location associated with the battle in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) with Thingwall on Merseyside in order to strengthen the Brunanburh-Bromborough link. Because the earliest sources in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle locate the battle as taking place "ymbe Brunanburh" ("around Brunanburh"), numerous locations on the Wirral near Bromborough have been put forward as the site of the battle, including the Brackenwood Golf Course in Bebington, Wirral.

Though many scholars today appear to have accepted a "near Bromborough" location, dozens of sites for the battle have been suggested in the past. Paul Hill has identified over thirty possibilities, some of which are still defended by local interest groups (see discussion of Shelfield Hill, below) or minority critics.

These alternatives include:

• Additional sites in Merseyside:
  • Newton-le-Willows, St Helens
• Sites in Northumberland
• Burnswark in Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland
• Tinsley Wood in South Yorkshire
• Near the Humber in Yorkshire/Lincolnshire
• Axminster in Devon.
• Sites in Lancashire:
  • Livesay. The Livesay Historical Society says that the names Livesay and Livesey came from the common Anglo-Saxon personal name Lēofsige (which means "beloved victory" or "he whose victory is beloved"), and that that name refers to the Battle of Brunaburh; but see Livesey#Etymology.
  • Burnley. In 1856, Burnley Grammar School master and antiquary, Thomas T Wilkinson, published a paper suggesting the moors above Burnley as the site of the battle, noting that the town stands on the River Brun. Local folklore told of a great battle at Saxifield during the Heptarchy, re-enforced by the occasional discovery of apparently human bones and iron arrowheads. The village of Worsthorne also had a tradition that the Danes constructed defences when a battle was fought on the moor that bares the same name, and that five kings were buried under tumuli apparent in the area.

Although he couldn't categorically identify a burh by the Brun, he referenced the work of Thomas Dunham Whitaker listing what he felt was a large number of earthworks. Some such as Castercliff, Twist Castle and Ringstones Camp, he thought of Roman origin, but showed the historical significance of the area. Others like an entrenchments on Broad Bank hill at Burwains farm 53°48′48″N 2°08′59″W / 53.8132°N 2.1497°W / 53.8132; -2.1497 (Burwains Camp prehistoric defended settlement west of Broad Bank Hill), and Bonfire hill 53°47′57″N 2°11′56″W / 53.7992°N 2.1988°W / 53.7992; -2.1988 (entrenchment on Bonfire hill), a possible camp on Shelfield hill 53°49′54″N 2°09′45″W / 53.8318°N 2.1625°W / 53.8318; -2.1625 (Shelfield enclosure) around the site of the Victorian Walton Spire, and dykes at Saxifield, Thieveley, Ree Lees, and Broadclough near Bacup, he felt indicated military activity during the period. He also showed that the Heasandford area of the town is named for a ford of the River Brun on an ancient trans-pennine route known locally as the long causeway, but in part as the Danes road. He equated the estate of Emmott with Eamot the site of a treaty following the victory at York, the Swinden valley with Weondune, and Worsthorne with bishop Wærstan who supposedly died fighting for Æthelstan. He also suggested that local place names like Winewall, Daneshouse, and Warcock hill could be significant and that the Cuerdale Hoard represented a Danish war chest lost as a result of the battle.

His work was subsequently referenced and expanded by a number of local authors. New infomation was added including that around this time, the land between the rivers Ribble and Mersey had been re-conquered from Danish Northumbria and held by the crown until the Norman conquest. And although most of the sites mentioned have since been classified as much older, the story still interests some today.

In addition, Brunanburh is also named ‘Wendune’ by Symeon of Durham, the Wen- element remaining in the village of Winwall, next to the battlefield (near Colne) & the name ‘Vinheath’ given by Egil’s Saga. Both ‘heath’ & ‘dune’ relate to the wide, raised land that the field lies on, as the word dun being, ‘consistenly used for a low hill with a fairly extensive summit which provided a good settlement-site in open country (Margaret Gelling). One final named for the battle, on ‘The Plains of Othlynn (Annals of Clonmacnoise) connects to the Domesday Book’s Othlei, for Otley, whose lands stretched at least as far as Ilkley, a few short miles from the field.

These are not the only sites suggested, but they are those most commonly put forth.