12/28/12

The Celts in Wales

The Irish, Welsh, and Scots all have a Celtic ancestry, but they settled their respective regions before the Roman conquest of Britain. There is an amazing amount of debate as to the origin of the Celts: were they Phoenician? stocky and dark? tall and blonde? as culturally cohesive as the label suggests? The standard theory is that the Celts were an Indo-European group that gradually migrated across Europe and Asia, with an identifiable, distinct culture by 750 BC. As a group, they were well-known to the Greeks and Romans. The map to the right shows the migrations of the celtic (or proto-celtic) groups around 1000 BC. Note the expansion of the Celts in particular between 500 and 200 BC into the British Isles. The Welsh tribes in particular consisted of the Ordovices, the Deceangli, the Gangani, the Demetae, and the Silures. http://archaeology.suite101.com/article.cfm/archaeology_and_the_celts

“History tells us that there were two main Celtic groups, one of which is referred to as the ‘lowland Celts’ who hailed from the region of the Danube. These people left their native pastures around 1200 BC and slowly made their way across Europe, founding the lake dwellings in Switzerland, the Danube valley and Ireland. They were skilled in the use of metals and worked in gold, tin and bronze. Unlike the more familiar Celtic strain these people were an agriculturally oriented race, being herdsmen, tillers and artificers who burned rather than buried their dead. They blended peacefully with the megalithic people among whom they settled, contributing powerfully to the religion, art, and customs they encountered as they slowly spread westwards. Their religious beliefs also differed from the next group, being predominately matriarchal.

The second group, often referred to as the ‘true’ Celts, followed closely behind their lowland cousins, making their first appearance on the left bank of the Rhine at the commencement of the sixth century BC. These people, who came from the mountainous regions of the Balkans and Carpathians, were a military aristocracy. Reputed to love fighting for the sake of it they were frequently to be found among the mercenaries of the great armies of those early times. They had a distinct class system, the observance of which constituted one of their major racial features. These were the warlike Celts of ancient history who sacked Rome and Delphi, eventually marching victoriously across much of Europe and the British Isles.” http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/Celtic/history.html

The Celts had arrived in Britain and Ireland by 400 BC, super-imposing upon whatever native peoples were already there. The Celts in these regions, then, were on the fringes of Celtic culture, not their heart, which was centered in Northern Europe, particularly in what is now Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

“Archaeological investigation of settlements shows that many people in the Iron Age lived in hilltop enclosures or hillforts defended by one or more banks and ditches. The inner bank would have been topped by a wooden palisade or occasionally a stone wall.

Within the enclosure people lived in round houses often with porches over the single doorway. The houses were made usually with wattle and daub walls, wooden roofs thatched with straw or reeds and with clay or earth floors. In some areas where stone was plentiful the house walls were built of stone. This is true of north Wales at such hillforts as Moel-y-Gaer. Often the houses had a central fireplace and sometimes a clay oven for baking bread. The grain for the bread was ground on rotary querns. The smoke would have escaped through the thatch. A wooden loom might be found in some houses where people wove cloth from wool or flax.” http://www.cpat.org.uk/educate/leaflets/celts/celts.htm

Hillforts to visit:

Caer Drewyn (near Corwen)
Moel Fenlli on the Clwydian Hills
Gaer Fawr (near Welshpool), Powys
Ffrydd Faldwyn (Montgomery), Powys
Roundton Hill (near Churchstoke), Powys
Castell Tinboeth, Radnor (also the site of a medieval castle)
Castell Dinas Bran (near Llangollen–also the site of a medieval castle)

06/1/12

Aberystwyth Castle

Aberystwyth Castle, located on the west coast of Wales, is one of the few large castles in Ceredigion proper. To the east is mountainous terrain and it guards the entire north/south coast of Wales. A fort has existed in the area since prehistoric times, and over the centuries, different peoples have added to, knocked down, and rebuilt multiple fortifications.

The first ‘castle’ at Aberystwyth was on Pen Dinas. It is an iron age hill fort, overlooking both the sea and the city of Aberystwyth. It was occupied for about 300 years, into the first century BC.

“The ridged top site is enclosed by a series of banks and ditches.There have been numerous finds on the site and most are now in the hands of the National Museum of Wales. They include a clay pot made in the Malvern Hills and a pale yellow glass bead, possibly made in Somerset, as well as decorated Iron Age pottery, a 4th century Roman coin, spindle whorls and loom weights.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/celts/pages/pendinas.shtml

Although other fortifications followed, the first true castle wasn’t built until the 12th century, with the coming of the Normans. Traces of that castle, an earthen and wood construction, Tan-y-castell, are still visible alongside the River Ystwyth. It was burned by Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth, in 1135, and then rebuilt by Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, Owain Gwynedd’s wayward brother, when he took over Ceredigion. http://www.castles.me.uk/aberystwyth-castle.htm

http://explore.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/search?routeEditor_search_location=Aberystwyth+&x=34&y=10

Llywelyn ap Iowerth (Llywelyn the Great) began the first stone castle in a different location by the sea, rather than on the heights. http://www.castlewales.com/aberystw.html

This castle was then rebuilt beginning in 1277 by Edward I in his castle building program (See my blog, An Iron Ring of Castles). Dafydd ap Gruffydd’s Palm Sunday insurrection in 1282 burned it, but at the Welsh defeat, Edward continued the building and it was completed in 1289.

“In 1404, the castle fell to Owain Glyndwr and it was occupied until being recaptured by cannon in 1408. During this occupation it became an important seat of Welsh government. In 1637 the castle was chosen by Charles I to house a royal mint. Coins of eight different denominations were produced from local silver. All carried the emblem of the Prince of Wales feathers.

Charles Bushell, who operated the mint in 1637, became very wealthy. At the start of the Civil War he lent Charles I £40,000 and raised a regiment of soldiers made up from local miners. Bushell’s mint was closed down during the Civil War, but was used to store silver and lead. Garrisoned by Royalists, the castle was besieged by the Parliamentarians and surrendered in 1646. Cromwell’s troops made a good job of demolishing the building, thus preventing it ever being used again.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/castles_aberystwyth.shtml

05/30/12

Iron Age Hill Forts: Dinas Bran, Dinas Emrys, and Tre’r Ceiri

The Iron Age in Wales occurred during the 500 years leading up to the Roman conquest of Britain. “The earliest iron artefact in Wales is a sword dating to about 600 BCE, but by 400 BCE iron was being smelted and crafted into tools all over the British Isles.

The tribes of Wales developed regional styles of working iron, gold, and other metals, following the exquisite western European style known as La Tene (after the village of La Tene in Switzerland). At the same time as iron was introduced to Britain a new crop of settlers arrived from northern Europe.” http://www.britainexpress.com/wales/history/iron-age.htm This new group were the Celts. They overran the whole of Britain, whether by conquering the then-native peoples, or gradually settling the country over a period of time.

According to the National Museum of Wales, there are over 1000 iron age hillforts in Wales (though some could be more aptly viewed as ‘defended farms’).

Hillforts are fortified enclosures built of earth, timber or stone and frequently sited on defensible hilltops. They were built from the Late Bronze Age, throughout the Iron Age (1100BC-AD50) and some were also occupied during Romano-British times. They enclose areas of between 0.1 and 80 hectares, although in Wales most are under 2 hectares in area.
Hillfort defences usually consist of a bank (rampart) made of material dug from an outer ditch. Some hillforts were provided with additional defences. Many hillforts have elaborate and strengthened entrances incorporating impressive gate structures.
More recently, a number of archaeologists have emphasised the great diversity in hillfort characteristics. They argue for a number of different roles, not merely defensive ones. Many hillforts are sited in poorly defensive locations, others do not seem to have been lived in continuously or intensively. Instead, they may have acted as stock enclosures, agricultural fair grounds and religious centres at certain times of the year. As monuments, they may have been as much about displaying the status and power of different community groups, as they were about defence. A large number of small hillforts in Wales should essentially be seen as single farms occupied by small family groups. http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/2370/

Three hill forts of particular interest that cover the whole range of styles and periods are Dinas Bran, Dinas Emrys, and Tre’r Ceiri.

The ruins that sit atop Dinas Bran (meaning literally, “Hill of the Crow”, or “Bran’s Stronghold”) were built in the medieval period, but the site was continuously occupied from the Iron Age and the ditch and earthen embankments visible today date from that initial settlement. http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html

“The hillfort has a single bank and ditch enclosing an area of about 1.5 hectares. To the south and west the defences are most considerable being up to 8 metres high in places. The entrance lies in the south-west corner of the fort and is defended by an inward curving bank. To the north the fort is defended by the natural steepness of the land and no earthwork defences were required.” http://www.cpat.org.uk/educate/guides/dinasb/dinasb.htm

Dinas Emrys sits atop a rock that is one of the strongest, natural fortifications in Wales. Modern archaeology reveals: “Dinas Emrys was occupied to some extent in the late Roman period, but that rough stone banks around its Western end are later. They were poorly built of stone two or three times and took strategic advantage of natural crags. Still less substantial walls were also discovered to the north and south. Broken sherds of Eastern Mediterranean amphorae, Phoenician red slip dishes and a pottery lamp roundel featuring a Chi-Rho symbol indicate that these features do indeed date to the 5th and 6th century.”
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/archaeology/emrys.html
http://www.castlewales.com/dinas_em.html

The last site, Tre’r Ceiri is a spectacular iron age site, located on the Llyn Penninsula in Wales. A climb to the top of the 457 meter hill reveals 150 hut circles still clearly discernable, capable of housing upwards of 500 people. The stone walls surrounding the fort were 4 meters (12+ feeet) high in places and the huts range in size from 3 meters to 8 meters across.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/celts/pages/trer_ceiri.shtml

05/26/12

Dinas Bran

Dinas Bran is a medieval castle begun in 1260 and destroyed in 1277 during the Welsh wars with King Edward I of England.

The first settlement that we know of was an iron age hill fort, from which it gets its name. ”"Dinas Bran” is variously translated as “Crow Castle,” “Crow City,” “Hill of the Crow,” or “Bran’s Stronghold.”

The castle first appears in 12th century historical documents as part of a medieval piece entitled “Fouke le Fitz Waryn,”or “The Romance of Fulk Fitzwarine.” While this work claimed that the castle, known as “Chastiel Bran,” was in ruin as early as 1073, the remains we see today date to the occupation of the princes of Powys Fadog in the mid 13th century. Possibly, the Chastiel Bran mentioned in the romance was a Norman timber castle, but nothing of substance supports this conjecture. However, the encompassing ditch and earthen embankments, which enclose the southern and eastern portions of the stone fortress, do date to the Iron Age. They remind us that this hilltop had strategic value long before the princes of Powys, or the Normans, ventured into the region. Interestingly, the word, “Dinas,” has its origins in the Iron Age as well, and is found in the names of Iron Age hillforts throughout Wales.” http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html

“Reid (1973) speculated that the hill at Dinas Bran was occupied in the 8th century by a man named Eliseg. The same Eliseg also gave his name to an ancient pillar that stands just north of Valle Crucis Abbey, near Llangollen. The mystery man may have been an ancestor of the princes of Powys who later dominated the area, but there is no real proof to support this assertion.

The historical record also conflicts over whom really built the remains at Dinas Bran. The most reliable sources state that Gruffydd Maelor II, son of Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor I, began the castle in the late 1260′s. The elder Madog founded nearby.

During those final two decades, the castle on the hilltop became a prized possession of the princes of Powys Fadog. Dinas Bran’s power did not go unnoticed by English forces. In 1277, during Edward I’s initial foray into Wales, the Earl of Lincoln, Henry de Lacy, besieged the castle. The Welsh lord of Dinas Bran was forced to submit to the invading army, which promptly set the site afire, completely destroying it.”

For more about the medieval castle see: http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html

02/5/12

A Medieval Siege

Besieging a castle was a far more common form of warfare than a fight on an open battlefield. Sieges had the element of surprise and required fewer men than battle too, such that a ruler could beseige a castle with his enemy inside, while freeing other forces to wage war elsewhere.

The goal in beseiging a castle was not to destroy it, but to take it, since castles were pawns in the great game of controlling land. They were usually heavily fortified and defended, so a beseiger had several options when he was on the outside looking in:

1) to starve/wait them out

2) harassment and trickery

3) a straight assault

Often, attackers employed all three tactics at various times. The defenders, on the other hand, hoped and prayed for relief. As Saladin says in Kingdom of Heaven “One cannot maintain a seige with the enemy behind”. The hope was that a beseiged castle would be rescued by allies, and if they’d had warning of the seige, would have sent messengers out of the castle before their enemy closed in around them.

Castles in Wales that were beseiged:

Dolforwyn: “Dolforwyn stands on a wooded hill overlooking the fertile Severn valley, a scene so peaceful today that it is hard to picture it as one of political animosity or military action. It was built between 1273-77 by Llywelyn the Last as a forward position in his territory, and overlooking the English lordship of Montgomery. This rectangular castle crowns a ridge along the Severn valley, and was obviously designed to act as a sentinel over Llywelyn’s south-eastern frontier. Its initial construction led Edward I to write to Prince Llywelyn in 1273, forbidding him to build the castle. The prince replied, with a masterpiece of ironic politeness, that he did not require the king’s permission to raise a stronghold in his own principality. Dolforwyn was, however, taken by Roger Mortimer after a fortnight’s siege in 1277.”

Hawarden: “Hawarden’s most significant role in the struggle for Welsh independence came in 1282 when it was attacked by Llywelyn’s brother Dafydd ap Gruffydd. Angered by King Edward’s seeming lack of respect, Dafydd staged a night siege on the stronghold in the month of March [Palm Sunday]. Although he succeeded in capturing the castle and its constable, Roger Clifford, Dafydd’s actions forced his brother Llywelyn to become involved in another rebellion against the crown. By the end of the year Llywelyn had been killed, and Dafydd was on the run, only to be captured and executed the following year. Hawarden Castle was retaken by the English king, never again to be the target of a Welsh uprising.”

Harlech: “Harlech Castle played a key role in the national uprising led by Owain Glyndwr. After a long siege, it fell to his forces in 1404. The castle became Glyndwr’s residence and headquarters, and one of the two places to which he is believed to have summoned parliaments of his supporters. It was only after a further long siege in 1408 that Harlech was retaken by English forces under Harry of Monmouth, later Henry V.

Sixty years later, during the War of the Roses, the castle was held for the Lancastrians until taken by Lord Herbert of Raglan for the Yorkist side. It was this prolonged siege which traditionally gave rise to the song Men of Harlech.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz9_ELpil9w

Helpful links:

http://www.castles-of-britain.com/castlest.htm

http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/bachrach1.htm

“The Medieval Siege“ by Jim Bradbury

And because no post on medieval sieges is complete without it . . . I give you my son’s trebuchet:

09/18/11

Caer Fawr (Iron Age Hill Fort)

Caer Fawr, or ‘The Great Fort’, is the scene of the final battle in The Pendragon’s Quest. It is an iron age hill fort with extensive fortifications, most of which are hidden now by vegetation. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales did a study of Caer Fawr and if you’re interested in the topic, it’s worth downloading: http://www.rcahmw.gov.uk/LO/ENG/Publications/Electronic+Publications/Gaer+Fawr/

It “occupies a prominent hill 1.4 kilometres to the north of Guilsfield (Cegidfa) and 5.4 kilometres north of Welshpool in the old county of Montgomeryshire, now Powys. The topography of this area is dominated by the River Severn, 4.7 kilometres to the east (Fig. 2). The hills flanking its wide river plain rise gently to the west and more steeply to the east and are cut by the tributary rivers which feed the Severn. A series of prominent hills rises above the general topography, most distinctively the Breidden, at 403 metres above sea level . . .

The site lies in the northern half of a dense band of large?and medium?sized hillforts extending along the border between England and Wales: from the Wye Valley and tributaries of the Severn into the central Marches, and on by way of the Clwydian Range to the North Wales coast . . .

“‘The construction covered at least two main phases. The original hillfort, enclosing about 3 acres, was probably univallate with entrances at the NW and SW ends. The second phase consisted of enlarging the original fort by enclosing a further 3½ acres to the NW side at a lower level. The new outer defences were bivallate and included very complicated entrances on the NE and SW, probably on the sites of the original entrances’ (NMRW: OS 495 Card SJ 21 SW 1). . . .

“The most likely date for this phase of construction is the early Iron Age, between the sixth and fifth centuries BC, the period in which hillfort building took off in the Marches . . . The ‘developed’ form of Gaer Fawr is likely to belong to the middle Iron Age, 400-150 BC. . . .

“One of the most noticeable features of Gaer Fawr is its defences; the scale is huge in contrast to the size of the area enclosed. Useable space totals just over 2 hectares, whereas the hillfort as a whole encompasses just over 6 hectares. As defensive features these would certainly have been imposing and would have been visible for miles, with entrance arrangements clearly designed to control the movement of people, managing both how and who approached.” In short, Caer Fawr provided the perfect place for Cade, Rhiann, andn their friends to defend Wales against a Saxon advance!

For more about the fort, see the report (again): http://www.rcahmw.gov.uk/LO/ENG/Publications/Electronic+Publications/Gaer+Fawr/

For a cool video from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/localhistory/hidden_histories/episode_2_hillfort.shtml

06/30/11

Dinas Ffareon (Dinas Emrys)

Dinas Ffareon is an Iron Age hill fort near Beddgelert which overlooks Lyn Dinas in Snowdonia. It is one of the more remote castles in Wales and “it was here that King Lludd ab Beli buried the two dragons which fought each other, as told in the Welsh epic the Mabinogion.”

Later tales (Nennius’ and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s among them) tell of King Vortigern retreating back into Snowdonia and choosing Dinas Ffareon as the place to build his fort.

Unfortunately for him, each night the ground was shaken such that the fort fell down. The King’s advisors stated that a fartherless child had to be sacrificed in order to stop the fort tumbling. Myrddyn Emrys (Merlin) and Emrys Wledig (Ambrosius Aurelianus) come into the story as well.

“Merlin prophecised that the Red Dragon represented the Britons and the White Dragon the Saxons and that the event meant that the Britons would be victorious over the Saxons. The Celts tended to refer to leaders as dragons (draig) so one could also read it as meaning the leader of the Britons being victorious over the leader of the Saxons, something which came to pass through Uther Pendragon and then Arthur himself.”

http://www.wyrm.org.uk/ukdracs/dinasemrys.html

http://www.caerleon.net/history/geoffrey/Prophecy1.htm

Dinas Ffareon, now Dinas Emrys (renamed, of course, for Merlin), sits atop a rock that is one of the strongest, natural fortifications in Wales. The remains of the medieval stone fort, possibly built in the 13th century by either Llywelyn Fawr or Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, still top it. Underneath, stones date to the Iron Age.

Modern archaeology reveals: “Dinas Emrys was occupied to some extent in the late Roman period, but that rough stone banks around its Western end are later. They were poorly built of stone two or three times and took strategic advantage of natural crags. Still less substantial walls were also discovered to the north and south. Broken sherds of Eastern Mediterranean amphorae, Phoenician red slip dishes and a pottery lamp roundel featuring a Chi-Rho symbol indicate that these features do indeed date to the 5th and 6th century.”
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/archaeology/emrys.html
http://www.castlewales.com/dinas_em.html

04/21/11

Tintagel Castle

Was Arthur conceived at Tintagel Castle? That Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed he was is reason enough to doubt the veracity of the legend, but that’s not to say that the castle doesn’t have a fascinating history.

Geoffrey writes: “They then went their way toward Tintagel, and at dusk hour arrived, swiftly unmade the doors, and the three were admitted. For what other than Gorlois if Gorlois himself were there? So the king lay that night with Igrene, for as he had beguiled her by the false likeness he had taken upon him, so he beguiled her also by the feigned discourse wherewith he had issued forth of the besieged city for naught save to see the safety of her dear self and the castle wherein she lay, in such a sort that she believed him every word, and had no thought to deny him in aught he might desire. And upon that same night was the most renowned Arthur conceived, that was well worthy of all the fame he did achieve by his surpassing prowess (Monmouth, 148-9).”

Tintagel Castle, as it exists today, was begun in the 12th century by Earl Reginald, brother to Robert of Gloucester. Geoffrey wrote the History of the Kings of Britain in 1139, which is the approximate time that Earl Reginald began his castle, but it is not clear which was the impetus for the other. The remains of the castle that exists today was built in the 1230s by Prince Richard, the Earl of Cornwall. http://www.britannia.com/history/arthur/tintcast.html

That there are far, far older remains underneath these later castles is indisputable. In the 1930s, twenty plus stone buildings were uncovered, dating to the medieval period, but along with these finds were amphora dating to the 5th and 6th centuries. “There was more pottery than the total haul from all other Dark Age sites in Britain: huge Tunisian oil jars, Carthaginian dishes, Aegean amphorae and distinctive Byzantine jars.” In the 1980s, a series of bush fires swept across the island, revealing the remains of a total of 50 structures. http://www.britannia.com/history/arthur/tintcast.html

On top of this, the fires revealed pottery dating to the Roman period, indicating that the island was a trading post. “No other Roman site is present anywhere in this area with similar architecture or Roman pottery.” http://www.legendofkingarthur.co.uk/cornwall/tintagel.htm

The most exciting find for Arthurophiles, is the ‘Artognov’ inscription–carving (or graffiti perhaps) on a slate slab. There are two inscriptions. The deeper one, in Roman lettering, reads “AXE”. The fainter one reads: PATER COLIAVIFICIT: presumably FICIT is the Latin FECIT – ‘made this’. And then, ARTOgNOV which may (or may not) be a form of Arthur. At the bottom right the words COLI and FICIT are repeated. http://www.archaeology.co.uk/the-timeline-of-britain/tintagel.htm In Cornish/Welsh, “Artognou,” is pronounced “Arthnou.”

Another perspective: “The stone apparently bears two inscriptions. The upper strongly incized letters have been broken off and are sadly indecipherable. The lower inscription, though fainter, clearly reads “Pater Coliavificit Artognov”, which Professor Charles Thomas of Exeter University has carefully translated as “Artognou, father of a descendant of Coll, has had this built”. Possibly written by a Gaulish hand, the style of writing is certainly 6th century, a date confirmed by surrounding fragments of 6th century Mediterranean pottery already well known from the Tintagel site. Also found nearby was the remains of the only Spanish glass flagon known from this period of Britain’s history. Chris Morris, who has been leading the Scottish based excavation team for the past eight years, believes that the dedicatory “Arthur Stone,” as it has already been christened, was placed in the wall of a 6th century stone building which later collapsed soon after it was built. The slate was then reused as drain cover a century later.”

Even without the Arthur link, Morris states that we shouldn’t make too much of the obvious link with King Arthur’s traditional birthplace. He believes the stone’s importance lies in the fact that it is “the first evidence we have that the skills of reading and writing were handed down in a non-religious context”.

04/14/11

The Fictional King Arthur (rant)

Yes, I have some issues with King Arthur as a fictional character. And the new series on STARZ called Camelot does absolutely nothing to help:

King Arthur, as usually written, comes off as either as a flat character, someone whom the author employs as a backdrop to explore the personalities of other characters (Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot), or as unheroic and human, tripped up in the end by the overwhelming burden of his imperfections. Arthur is either a pawn, buffeted by the winds of fate, or so flawed, one has to ask how he was remembered as a hero in the first place. In the Camelot series, at least the bit I’ve watched, it is inexplicable that Merlin would come to him as the hero (in a totally deserted castle) and expect anything good to happen.

There is a simple reason for this: it is very hard to synchronize the different aspects of Arthur’s story into a complete whole because the essential, heroic element of Arthur’s story—his defeat of the Saxons for a generation—has been grafted, at both the beginning and the end, to a romantic tale told for reasons having more to do with the medieval authors who were telling the story, and the time in which they were living, than with Arthur. In so doing, his character is incomplete and inexplicable, one who reacts instead of acts, and who never has a say in his own destiny.

Instead, it is Merlin who is the active character. It is he who sets the whole plot in motion, whose behavior acts at times like a ‘get out of jail free card’ for Arthur, who manipulates everybody else, but who is powerless to stop Arthur’s downfall in the end. In the classic Norman/French tale, it is through Merlin’s actions at the beginning of the story that Arthur becomes high king, and because of Merlin’s abandonment at the end of the story that (in rapid succession), Arthur loses his wife, his best friend, his son, and his life.

In the Welsh tales, on the other hand, Arthur is nearly super-human. He may have a few flaws, yes, but he is a ‘hero’ in the classic sense. He takes his men to the Underworld and back again, he finds the 13 treasures of Britain, and he rescues his friends and relations from danger and death. It is these tales, however, that are rarely told in modern fiction. Why is that? Why do authors have an easier time grafting sorcery (of the Merlin and Morgane kind) onto a tale of the gritty, Dark Age Arthur than the mythology that is far older and ‘authentic’ for the period in which Arthur actually lived?

As one of my grad school professors once said, ‘the English have a lot to answer for’ As posted here (http://tinyurl.com/673mxrh), there are other reasons Camelot is a mess too. Too bad.

09/21/10

The origins of the name ‘Woodbury’

The name ‘Woodbury’ has its origins in the old English word wudu, meaning ‘wood’ and byrig, dative of burh ‘fortified place’. While not native to Britain (as in, not Welsh), it’s roots are Saxon, and thus the place-name ‘Woodbury’ in Devonshire predates the Norman conquest of 1066. The name was recorded “as ‘Wodeberie’ in the Domesday Book of 1086, and the latter ‘Ve(s)burg’. The derivation of both placenames is from the Olde English pre 7th Century . . . The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of David de Wodebir, which was dated 1273, Hundred Rolls Devon, during the reign of King Edward I.” http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Woodberry

In 1848, there were three locations in England with the name ‘Woodbury’ (and lots in the US, but that’s another story):

“WOODBURY, a hamlet, in the parish of Gamlingay, poor-law union of Caxton and Arrington, hundred of Longstow, county of Cambridge; containing 34 inhabitants.

WOODBURY (St. Swithin), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of East Budleigh, Woodbury and S. divisions of Devon, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Topsham; containing 1933 inhabitants. The parish comprises 7304 acres, of which 734 are common or waste: the navigable river Exe bounds it on the west. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patrons, the Custos and College of Vicars Choral in the Cathedral of Exeter. The church contains some ancient monuments, among which is one to Chief Justice Sir Edmund Pollexfen. At Salterton, in the parish, to the north of the village of Woodbury, is a district church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, built and endowed by Miss Marianne Pidsley, who holds the patronage. A school, in connexion with the National Society, is endowed with £37 per annum. On the edge of a lofty hill commanding a beautiful prospect, is an ancient earthwork called Woodbury Castle, an inclosure of irregular form, deeply intrenched.

WOODBURY, a tything, in the parish of RomseyExtra, union of Romsey, hundred of King’s-Sombourn, Romsey and S. divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 293 inhabitants.”

From: ‘Wombleton – Woodbury’, A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 649-652. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51423

Woodbury Castle (http://www.britishexplorers.com/woodbury/castle.html) has been the subject of a series of excavations over the years:

“A conspicuous hill-top fort, on the crest (175m) of a ridge of the Bunter Pebble Beds on Woodbury Common, two kilometres east of Woodbury village. The B3180 runs through the fort, passing through the two entrances.The main enclosure of 2 hectares is defended by a massive steep rampart and deep ditch, supplemented on the north and east sides by a substantial counter-scarp bank. On the west side the defences are doubled and the end of the second rampart is expanded to create a fighting platform beside the northern entrance. The main rampart turns inwards to flank the southern entrance, now under the road. Other gaps are modern.

60m to the north there is another smaller rampart and ditch across the ridge, extending to Soldiers’ Well, a spring on the western side, which probably served as the water supply for the hillfort. On the southern and western sides there are intermittent earthworks that are earlier than the main hillfort.

Limited excavation of a narrow strip alongside the road in 1971 by Henrietta Quinnell showed that a palisaded enclosure pre-dated the defences. The inner rampart was found to have a turf revetment at the back and was topped by a timber breastwork; subsequently it was heightened and the breastwork renewed. At the northern entrance, the rampart ends were revetted with timber and later strengthened with stone, whilst in the interior there were post-holes indicating rectangular timber buildings, possibly granaries. Finds were very few but the pottery suggested that the defences were completed before 300 BC.”

There are, in fact, several more ‘Woodbury’ place names, all ancient, all dating to the iron age or Roman times. Also in Devon, on my map of Roman Britain, is Axminster, located at ‘Woodbury farm’. It was a Roman site which sits at the crossroads of two Roman roads. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moridunum_(Axminster)

And then three more iron age hill forts: ‘Woodbury Hill’ located northwest of Worcester and apparently the site of the worst defeat of the Welsh leader Owain Glyndwr to English forces, ‘Great Woodbury’, and ‘Little Woodbury’, the latter two excavations near Salisbury. There is even a ‘Little Woodbury culture’: Middle Iron Age communities living in central southern England in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bc. The culture was named by Frank Hodson in 1964 on the basis of material from Gerhard Bersu, Gerhard 1938–9 excavations at Little Woodbury near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Larry Wert has done heroic and exhaustive research of the thousands of Woodbury descendents. For more stories and more information than you could possibly comprehend, see his web page: http://www.woodbury-ober.com/

Sarah Woodbury

Writing Historical Fiction and Fantasy

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