The Dark Little History of Somerset

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LET BATTLE COMMENCE

Throughout its history, Somerset has been no stranger to armed conflict, and has seen its fair share of battles, skirmishes, uprisings and other conflicts which have disturbed its peaceful landscape.

After the Roman invasion of AD 43, the legions marched westward. Having discovered the hot springs at what is now Bath, the 2nd Augusta Legion continued to the west, under the command of the future emperor Vespasian, occupying parts of Somerset as they went. One of the main attractions of the area was the presence of lead and silver in the Charterhouse area. They found and attacked the major defensive hill forts of Ham Hill and South Cadbury Castle, occupied by the native tribes of the Durotriges and Dobunni, where they met some determined resistance before bringing the area under control. Excavations have discovered examples of Roman military equipment at both sites, including armour, spearheads and ballista bolts (a ballista was a kind of giant crossbow; a fearsome weapon to face). The Roman attack on Cadbury in about AD 70 resulted in a massacre of the defenders. The remains of at least thirty people have been discovered, showing clear evidence of death by violence, and there are similar signs of another massacre at the hill fort near Norton Fitzwarren.

South Cadbury hillfort.

Other early battles that are believed to have been fought in Somerset (historians are not completely sure) include:

Mount Badon (Mons Badonicus), around AD 500; thought to have been fought in the Bath area, possibly Solsbury Hill, between Britons and Anglo-Saxons. The sixth-century monk Gildas says that the leader of the resistance was a Romano-British chieftain named Ambrosius Aurelianus.

Longborth (probably Langport), about AD 522. It's recorded that a battle was fought here between Arthur and the warrior Geraint, in which Geraint was killed, and Arthur himself wounded. A sixth-century poem describes:

. the noisy tumult,

And biers with the dead drenched in gore,

And men blood-stained from the onset of the foe.

This was not to be the last battle Langport would witness (see below under 'Later battles').

Camlann, around AD 530 (although may be legendary). Where 'King' Arthur is supposed to have died, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain.

Peonnum, around AD 660; possibly fought near Penselwood. A victory for the Saxons, led by Cenwalh, over the Britons. This brought Somerset as far west as the River Parrett under Saxon control.

Cynuit, AD 878, either Combwich, near Bridgwater, or, more likely, Countisbury on the Somerset border with Devon. The West Saxons, led by Odda, defeated the Danish forces, led by Ubba. The Saxons captured the Danes' famous raven banner. Alfred (the Great) of Wessex was at this time hiding out in the Somerset marshes, organising a resistance.

Ethandun, AD 878; a victory for Alfred, who defeated the Danes led by Guthrum. The annals tell how Alfred called the fyrds (local militia) to gather at Egbert's Stone, at the village of Brewham, near Wincanton. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that:

All those of Somerset came to meet him, and those of Wiltshire and Hampshire, the part this side of the sea . one night after he proceeded to Heddington, and there fought with all the army, and put them to flight, riding after them to the fortress, and besieged it for fourteen nights.

Bishop Asser, writing in his The Life of King Alfred in 893, tells how 'through God's will': 'Alfred destroyed the Vikings with great slaughter, and pursued those who fled as far as the stronghold, hacking them down.'

After these two battles the Treaty of Wedmore, between Alfred and Guthrum, was concluded, at which Guthrum and his men agreed to accept the Christian faith. Alfred himself baptised Guthrum as his godson, and made him the Christian King of East Anglia, which, of course, meant that he now had a valuable ally in that part of the country.

In 918 there was a Danish raid at Watchet, which was intended to secure a stretch of territory along the banks of the Severn. The Danes managed to land on two occasions: once to the east of Watchet, and on another occasion at Porlock. The local Saxons, known as the Hwicca, put up a stiff resistance, and fierce fighting took place. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle talks of 'a great slaughter' and tells us that the Danes,'. were beaten at every turn, so that few of them got away except those who swam out to the ships. They set down on the island of Flatholme, where many of them died of hunger'.

Near Williton are some fields with burial mounds, known as Battlegore, which local tradition held was the site of one of the battles, but this idea has now been dismissed. The mounds are actually Bronze Age barrows, or burial chambers, but the name shows how these events lingered on in folk memory.

Saxon warrior.

Later battles: Once we get past the Norman Conquest of 1066 we are on firmer ground. The first major conflict in Somerset after that date was the Siege of Ilchester in 1088. This occurred during the reign of William II (Rufus), when the town was attacked and besieged by the forces of Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria (D.O.B. unknown -1125). He (along with his uncle, Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances) decided to support the king's brother, Robert Curthose, in his bid to gain the throne. Bishop Geoffrey owned the mighty Bristol Castle, from which Mowbray led an uprising that burned Bath, ravaged part of Wiltshire and finally laid siege to Ilchester. The town proved too hard a nut to crack, and Mowbray was forced to withdraw his forces. After this, the uprising collapsed, but the Earl managed to escape punishment. However, he does not appear to have learned his lesson, for in 1095 he led another unsuccessful rebellion against the Crown. This time he was captured and imprisoned for life. After many years he was, according to one chronicler, allowed to become a monk at St Albans, where he died.

Over the next few centuries Somerset managed largely to escape the conflicts that took place elsewhere in the country. The Wars of the Roses (1455-85) left Somerset virtually unscathed, with none of the set-piece battles being fought within the boundaries of the county. However, it did not entirely avoid the effects of this dynastic quarrel between the houses of York and Lancaster. Sir James Luttrell of Dunster fought for the Lancastrians at the Second Battle of St Albans in February 1461. They were successful, but Sir James was badly wounded in the battle and died five days later. Shortly afterwards he was attainted for treason, and his castle at Dunster and all his lands were confiscated by the Crown. It was claimed that he had been one of those who had killed Richard, Duke of York (Edward IV's father), at the Battle of Wakefield the previous year, when the Duke had been beheaded and his head, wearing a paper crown, set up over the gates of York.

Another victim was Lady Margaret Pole (née Plantagenet) of Farleigh Hungerford, near Bath. She was the only surviving daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, drowned (according to tradition) in a butt of Malmsey wine in the Tower of London in 1478 by order of his brother Edward IV. With the execution in 1499 of her own brother, the Earl of Warwick (who actually had a better claim to the throne than the reigning king, Henry VII), Margaret became the sole remaining heir to the Plantagenets. Under Henry VIII, she was granted the title of Countess of Salisbury and made governess to Henry's daughter Mary, but her fortunes were about to change. As a devout Catholic she had been opposed to Henry's divorce, which had incurred his displeasure, and she was now unjustly accused of being involved in plots against the king. She was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and on 27 May 1541, the 62-year-old countess was led out to the scaffold on Tower Green, where she was executed. Because the official executioner had been sent north to despatch some rebels, the job was given to 'a wretched and blundering youth' who, according to some eyewitnesses, took eleven strokes to remove her head. Traitor or not, no one deserves to die in that way. When this appalling butchery was over she was buried in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower.

WARS AND RUMOURS OF WARS

During the late medieval and Tudor periods, towns and villages in England were required to form and maintain a militia of trained, able-bodied men who could be called upon to help defend the country in times of war. Some areas were more conscientious than others about this, so in 1569, during the reign of Elizabeth I, it was decided to compile a Muster Roll, a kind of military census to find out just how many men would be available if needed. The Muster Roll for the Hundred of 'Kainesham' (Keynsham) makes interesting reading. The 'hundred' comprised Keynsham itself and a number of the surrounding villages. Looking at the Roll, we find that altogether there were 194 'ablemen', consisting of eighty-one archers, eighty-one billmen, twenty-six 'pekemen' (pikemen) and eight 'gonners' (gunners). Some of these men came from surrounding villages; Thomas Phelps was an archer from Marksbury and Robert Miller a billman from Stanton Drew (a bill was a pole weapon with a spike and a hook at the business end). The men were expected to provide their own weapons and whatever...