Battle of Dyrham
This year Cuthwin and Ceawlin fought with the Britons, and slew three kings,on the spot called Deorham, and took from them three cities, Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath.”Battle of Dyrham –
Presumed strategy and tactics
The Severn Valley has always been one of the military keys of Britain, and some of the decisive battles of the Saxon conquest were fought to control it. In 577 Ceawlin advanced from the Thames Valley across the Cotswolds to seize the area and break the power of the Britons in the lower Severn area.[2][3]
Some historians (such as Welbore St Clair Baddeley in 1929) have concluded that the Saxons may have launched a surprise attack and seized the hill fort at Hinton Hill Camp (Dyrham Camp)[4] because it commanded the Avon Valley and disrupted communications north and south between Bath and her neighbouring Romano-British towns of Gloucester and Cirencester.[5] Once the Saxons were in occupation of the site (and had begun reinforcing the existing Iron Age defensive structures at the site) the Britons of those three towns were compelled to unite and make a combined attempt to dislodge them. Their attempt failed and the three opposing British kings were killed (they are named as Commagil of Gloucester, Condidan of Cirencester and Farinmagil of Bath). Their routed forces were driven north of the River Severn and south of Bath where it appears they began the construction of the defensive earthwork called the Wansdyke in a doomed attempt to prevent more territory from being lost.
The military historian Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred Burne, employing his theory of 'Inherent Military Probability' opted for a simpler explanation for the battle than Baddeley.[6] In his view Ceawlin was methodically advancing towards the Severn and the three forces of Britons concentrated to stop him. Burne suggests that they formed up along two slight ridges across the trackway that skirted the Forest of Braden, with Hinton Hill Camp behind them as their stores depot – a position similar to that adopted at the Battle of Beranburh in AD 556.[6] Burne pointed out that if the Saxon attack drove the Britons back from their first line onto the second ridge near the edge of the escarpment, the slightest further retreat would leave their flanks open to a downhill pursuit. He speculates that this is what occurred, with the three Briton leaders and their main body being driven back into the fort while the flanking Saxons driving forwards swept round behind the promontory on which the fort stands. A last stand in this position would explain why none of the three Briton leaders was able to escape
The remains of the old extension of Dunsdown Lane, that ran past Hinton Fort and was the route that Ceawlin took to capture and defeat the Britons at the Battle of Dyrham