The Battlefield Of Brunanburh: The Case For Wirral

This book describes one of the great mysteries of British history: the lost location of the largest battle ever recorded on our soil; a battle of at least equal importance in our history to the Battle of Hastings. Now it has been found on the Wirral.In 937 AD King Aethelstan of Merica & Wessex, grandson of Alfred the Great, defeated an invading triple army composed of Norse-Irish from the Kingdom of Dublin, Scots from the Kingdom of Alba and Celts from the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Many ancient Chronicles, including the Anglo Saxon Chronicle and Egil's Saga, described this Battle of Brunanburh as the largest battle fought on English soil, where five kings, seven earls and a huge host of men was slain. It was Brunanburh which cemented the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England as a stable entity and laid the foundations of Great Britain. After it Aethelstan styled himself with some justification as King of All The British. Despite the importance of Brunanburh the place of the battlefield has remained disputed for centuries with over thirty sites claiming ownership. The author has looked in detail at the clues in the chronicles and in particular Egil's Saga, comparing the battle and battlefield descriptions with the geography of the Wirral peninsula in Cheshire using old Ordnance Survey maps, tithe field maps, aerial photography and Lidar scans. Considering the meaning of place names in early English, Old Norse, Irish and Welsh and later local dialects the number of battle, weapon and death related names is surprising. The author has been able to define the main battlefield area and tentatively, the several escape routes across Wirral through known Viking settlement centres to ports and river landing places known to be used by 10th century shipping. This desk research is strong evidence for the battlefield location. However in the last two years Wirral Archaeology, following the same clues as the author, has identified a large camp site to the south of the proposed battle centre which apparently was a post-battle weapon recovery site. The several hundred weapon items found, dated by experts to the 10th century, along with thousands of iron fragments and evidence of metal smelting, confirm a major battle in this area. The author believes this ridge site was also the camp of King Aethelstan's vanguard army before the battle as described in Egil's Saga. Overall we can conclude that Brunanburh has finally been found.

Author: David P. Gregg

Publisher: Independently Published

Publication Date: Jan 22, 2021

Number of Pages: 134 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: NA

ISBN-13: 9798594416499