British Forts in the Age of Arthur

68 Pages·26.168 MB·English

by  Angus Konstam, Peter Dennis(Illustrator)

L.L'-.l.l J.~ FORTS
IN THE AGE
OF ARTHUR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
ANGUS KONSTAM hailsfrom theOrkneyIslands,and isthe authorof
over50 books, 30ofwhich are published byOsprey.Thisacclaimed and
widelypublishedauthor haswritten several bookson piracy, including
TheHistoryofPirates. Hismost recentworkisafull-length piratical biography:
Blackbeard:America'sMostNotoriousPirate. Aformer naval officerand
museum professional, heworked astheCuratorofWeapons attheTower
ofLondon and astheChiefCuratorofthe Mel FisherMaritimeMuseum in
KeyWest, Florida. Henowworks asafull-time authorand historian,and lives
in Edinburgh,Scotland.
PETER DENNISwas born in 1950.Inspired bycontemporary magazines
such asLookandLearn hestudied illustration atLiverpool ArtCollege.
Peterhas sincecontributed to hundredsofbooks, predominantlyon
historical subjects. Akeen wargamerand modelmaker, he is based
in Nottinghamshire, UK.
)
FORTRESS • 80
BRITISH FORTS IN
THE AGE OF ARTHUR
ANGUS KONSTAM ILLUSTRATED BY PETER DENNIS
SerieseditorsMarcusCowperand Nikolai Bogdanovic
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
CHRONOLOGY 8
THE DESIGN AND FUNCTION OF 'ARTHURIAN' FORTS 9
Reoccupied hill-forts. Reoccupied Roman fortifications
The sites of Late Antiquity
A TOUR OF SOUTH CADBURY-CAMELOT 25
THE LIVING SITES 33
FORTS AND WARFARE [N THE 'ARTHURIAN' AGE 39
The principles ofdefence. The 'Arthurian' forts in operation
AFTERMATH 53
THE SITES TODAY 56
England. Wales
BIBLIOGRAPHY 61
GLOSSARY 62
INDEX 64
THE FORTIFICATIONS
OF BRITAIN IN THE AGE
OFARTHUR
INTRODUCTION
This book covers the period from the departure ofthe Romans from Britain
at thestartofthe 5th century AD until An 600, aconvenient pointto mark the
consolidation ofthe Anglo-Saxon kingdom across most of modern England.
Whether you believe King Arthur to be a historical character, a semi-mythical
figure or even an invenrion of medieval romantics, he is closely idenrified
with this period - one of the most formative periods in the historical
development ofthe British Isles. The archaeologist Leslie Alcock first coined
the phrase 'Arthur's Britain' in 1971, offering legitimacy to the populist
a sociation between Arthurand the period. Two years later the historianJohn
Morris published The AgeofArthur, reinforcing the association even further.
The25ft(8m)-deepditchwhich
layonthesouthernsideofthe Since then the historical debateover Arthur's idenrity, his role and his very
Devil'sDykewassubstantial, existence has raged fiercely, and today historians are justaboutas divided on
presentingasignificant
the issue as they were almost fOUl' decades ago. Morris has largely been
obstacletoanattacker.Thusof
discredited, but his views still remain popular with those who simply want
allthedykesinEastAngliathis
onecouldhavebeenusedasa to believe in Arthur as a historical figure. Recently his views have been
milital)'barrieraswellasbeing reappraised by a new generation of historians- both academic JIl(.! amateur
aterritorialboundary. - and the barrie over Arthur's existence is now hotly debated once more.
(SamMarks)
The problem is largely one of historical sources - or more accurately
the lack of them. Our main source is the Celtic monk Gildas, whose De
£xcidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruinand Conquest ofBritain) was
probJbly written in the mid 6th century AD. His book was J sermon - J
rallying cry to the people of Britain - but it also contained a brief
summary ofthe recent history of Brirnin. He made no
mention of Arthur, In omission
which has fuelled the anti-f\rthurian argument, but which in it elfis probably
notentirelyconclusive. Gildas probably wrote itaround AD 550, which places
him at the height of the conflict between Briton and Saxon. His writing is
augmented by other British authors (Nennius' Historia Brittol/lfl11 or the
AI/nales Call1briae), later Anglo-Saxon sources (The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
or Bede's Ecclesiastical History), or by works written abroad, such as
Con tanriu 'Life f Cermanlfs of Auxerre. The troubl with th· e i that
hard historical facts are sparse, and the sources are often contradictory.
Fortunatel}' there isalso a growingcaucus ofarchaeological evidence, and
while the Arrhurian debate was going on archaeologists were revealing fresh
information about the end of RomJn rule in Britain, and what happened in
the two centuries which followed. TowJrds the end of the 4th century AD
Roman towns in Britain appear to have undergone a noticeable decline in
population, becoming little more than marketplaces. At the same time there
are sign of increased rural activit}', centred on the Roman villas whose
agricultural production continued to remain high.
By the time the Roman army departed from Britain around AD 409 the
province they left behind was reasonably prosperous, but undergoing major
changes. The biggest of these was the collapse of central administration,
which until then had been based in Londinium (London). Britannia was
divided into four smaller provinces, which were in turn divided into civitates
(the equivalent of counties). Government still appeared to function at this
Tintagelisafortificationof
LateAntiquitythattookfull
advantageofitsgeographical
position.The'Arthurian'fort
occupiedasimilarlocation
tothemedievalstructure
seenhere.Amaindefensive
perimeterwaslocatedonthe
mainland,whiletheisland
containedclustersofreligious
andsecularbuildings.(ReAM)
5
FortressesoftheSaxonShore
amedievalcopyofalost
10th-centurymap.Thenine
fortsshownareBradwell,
Dover,Lymphe,Brancaster,
BurghCastle,Reculver,
Richborough,Pevenseyand
Portchester.(Bibliotheque
Municipale,Rouen)
level, Illuch as it had before. What had changed, though, was the collapse of
the established monetarysystem,which included thecollection and payment
of taxes to maintain military garrisons and fleets. A barter system replaced
coinage, while for the most part the regional civitates took over control of
their own defences. While the moneysystem broke down, law and orderdid
not; the rulingpost-RomanaristocracyofBritain continued to maintain their
control over the provincefor the best partofa century after the legions were
shipped over to Gaul.
However, Britannia was no longer protected by veteran legionaries. The
great legionary fortresses lay abandoned, the Roman towns lacked proper
defences, and the only troops available to defend the civitates from attack
6
were whatever local troops could be raised to defend theirowncommunities.
This view has been challenged by those who believe the cleric Gildas, who
claims that the provinces were united under a High King or 'Tyrant'.
Unfortunately there is little hard evidence to support any such restoration of
central authority in the5th centuryAD. Instead itseemsas ifevery region was
left to its own devices. It was this lack of troops which - according to the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - prompted the tyrant Vortigern to hire Saxon
mercenariesas foederati (barbarianauxiliaries), thus invitingthe wolfinto the
fold.
The long-accepted view ofthe comingofthe Saxonswas that in the late5th
century AD they rebelled against their post-Roman British paymasters, and
promptly invited other waves of Angle and Saxon invaders to join them in a
conquest of Britain. In recent years this view has been replaced by one of
settlement rather than conquest, a gradual process whichculminated in the late
5th century AD with the establishment of petty Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the
eastand south-eastofwhat is now England. These Saxonswereoncedismissed
as barbarians, but archaeology has shownthat they enjoyed a rich culture, and
maintained trading linkswith the restofEurope. Thesameis trueofthe Britons;
pottery finds suggest a vibrant trade between south-west Britain and the
continental mainland.
However, this was also a time ofwarfare. While many of the old Roman
fortifications were abandoned, others were employed as defences against the
Saxons. While recently archaeologists have suggested that the forts of the
Saxon Shore were defended storehouses more than forrs, references to their
employmentas bulwarksagainst theSaxonscan befound in the Anglo-Saxon Thelate3rd-centurywallsof
Chronicle. Similarlythe archaeological evidencesuggests thatthe post-Roman the'SaxonShore'fortofPortis
British also maintained fortified outposts onHadrian's Wall, and probably in Adurni(Portchester)arestill
impressive,andprobably
the old legionary fortresses farther to the south. It is also possible that some
representoneofthebest
Roman towns- most notably Wroxeter in Shropshire- were used as military
survivingexamplesoflate
centres, or at least their defences were strengthened. Romanfortification.However,
While this reoccupation ofRoman defensive works helped provide some thesefortsremainsomething
ofanenigma,asthereislittle
form of protection from Saxon, Pictish or Irish incursions, in many parts of
evidenceofmilitaryactivity
Britain an even moresuitable form offortification was available. During the
withintheirwallsduringLate
5th and 6th centuries AD the long-abandoned Iron Age hill-forts which had Antiquity.(StratfordArchive)
7
provided a briefrallying poinr against the Romans were pressed into service
once more. In the south-west of Britain some of these old hill-fons were
reoccupied, while in Wales a few new fons were built, designed to suit the
needs of a new breed of British warlord. This book is the story of how all
these forts developed during these crucial two centuries of British history.
The problem still remains, however, of what to call this period. In the
past the phrase 'sub-Roman' was used, although 'post-Roman' is novv more
common. The phrase 'Dark Ages' has fallen from favour, as has the 'Barbarian
Migration Era'. The phrase 'Pagan Saxon' has been used in reference to the
early Saxon settlement of Britain, while 'late Celtic' or 'early Christian' also
limit the period by linking it to one particularculture or faith. Lately the term
'Late Antiquity' has been suggested, as a means ofpromotingthe idea that the
legacy of Roman Britain survived the departure ofthe legions. In the popular
imagination this is the period of Arthur- the time of Arthur's Britain.
CHRONOLOGY
ote: given the vagaries ofdating in Late Antiquity, some of these dates are
approximate, and may actually vary by a year or so either way.
AD367 'Thc Barbarian Conspiracv': mulriplearrack on Roman Brirain.
383-88 Rcign ofMagnus Maximus, Brirish conrcnder for rhc impcrial rhronc.
406 Vandals, Sucvi and Alanscross rhc River Rhine and arrack Roman GallI.
409 Approximarc dare ofdeparrure of Roman arn1\" from Hrirain.
-110 Sack of Rome by rhe Visigoths. Empcror Honoriu~rclb Britons rhcy
mu<,( look ro rhcir own defcnccs.
429 Firsr visir ro Britain by Germanus, Bishop of Auxerrc.
c.441 D;ltcgi\'cn in Chrollicles for Saxon 'rcvolr'.
c.450 According to Gildas, rhe Britonsask rhe Rom;ln general Acrius for help,
Hcdc dares rhc 'arrival ofrhe English in Brirain' ro rhc amc rimc.
482-511 Rcign ofClovis, King ofrhe Franks: Gaul is unircd undcr onc ruler.
c. 500 Barrie ofMounr Badon: Brirish vierorv Icads to almosr ;l halfccnrlll'y
of pcacc. Gildas is born rhis samc ycar.
c. ,')40 Gildas wrircs 0" the Des/me/ioll 0/Hritaill.
547-59 Rcign of King Ida, FirsrSaxon King of Hernicia.
570 Dcarh ofGikbs (according to Irish annals).
573-79 Reign of KingTheodric, King of Bernicia.
,')77 Harrleof D~'rham.
586-92 Rcign of King Hussa of Bernicia. According to the Ilis/oria BrillIJlIlI111
hc wages waragainsr four Brirish kings: Gwallog, iv1organ, RIl\'dderch
Hcn, and Urien,
592-616 Rcign of King Aerhclfrith of Bernicia.
597 Death ofSt. Columba.
8