Battle of Hatfield Chase

The Battle of Hatfield Chase (Old English: Hæðfeld; Old Welsh: Meigen) was fought on 12 October 633^[1] It pitted the Northumbrians against an alliance of Gwynedd and Mercia. The Northumbrians were led by Edwin and the Gwynedd-Mercian alliance was led by Cadwallon ap Cadfan and Penda. The site of the battle was a marshy area about 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Doncaster on the south bank of the River Don, though this location has been disputed.^{[dubious – discuss]} It was a decisive victory for Gwynedd and the Mercians: Edwin was killed and his army defeated, leading to the temporary collapse of Northumbria.

Battle of Hatfield Chase
Depiction of Edwin at St Mary, Sledmere, Yorkshire.
Date 12 October 633 AD Location Disputed. Possibly Hatfield Chase, Yorkshire or Cuckney, Nottinghamshire. Result Gwynedd-Mercian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Gwynedd Kingdom of Mercia Kingdom of Elmet	Kingdom of Northumbria Kingdom of Bernicia Kingdom of Deira
Commanders and leaders
Cadwallon ap Cadfan Penda Eowa ?	Edwin † Osfrith † Eadfrith (captured)
Strength
1,800	3,000
Casualties and losses
700 killed or wounded	2,000 killed

Background

Edwin, the most powerful ruler in Britain at the time, had seemingly defeated Cadwallon a few years before the battle. Bede refers to Edwin establishing his rule over what he called the Mevanian islands, one of which was Anglesey,^[2] and another source refers to Cadwallon being besieged on the island of Priestholm (AC: Glannauc),^[3] which is off the coast of Anglesey. Later, Cadwallon defeated and drove the Northumbrians from his territories and then allied with Penda (Cadwallon being the stronger member of the alliance). Penda's status in Mercia at this time is uncertain—Bede suggests he was not yet king, but became king soon after Hatfield;^[4] the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, however, says that he became king in 626.^[5]

Results of the battle

The battle was a disaster for Northumbria. With both Edwin and his son Osfrith killed, and his other son Eadfrith captured by Penda (and later killed), the kingdom was divided between its constituent kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. Eanfrith, a son of the former king Æthelfrith, returned from exile to take power in Bernicia, while Edwin's cousin Osric took over Deira. Cadwallon continued to wage a war against the Northumbrians, and was not stopped until he was defeated by Oswald at the Battle of Heavenfield (also known as Deniseburna, AC : Cantscaul) a year after Hatfield.^[6]

The historian D. P. Kirby suggested that the defeat of Edwin was the outcome of a wide-ranging alliance of interests opposed to him, including the deposed Bernician line of Æthelfrith; but considering the subsequent hostility between Cadwallon and Æthelfrith's sons, such an alliance must not have survived the battle for long.^[7]

Challenged location

An investigation group has challenged the alleged site of the battle, mooted as being near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, suggesting an alternative location of nearby Cuckney, Nottinghamshire, at a place called locally High Hatfield, with an ancient name of 'Cukeney upon Hattfeild'.

During the 1950s workmen undertaking underpinning work at St Mary's Church (responding to subsidence due to local coal mining) uncovered a mass grave, which was thought to predate the 1100s church.

The group, known as the Battle of Hatfield Investigation Society (BOHIS), received grants from Heritage Lottery Fund of £15,600 in 2016,^[8] enabling ground penetrating radar surveys to take place identifying places where further mass burials could be located. The Diocese of Southwell refused permission for excavations on the locations identified in November 2017.

In April 2018 the group was awarded a further £58,000 from lottery funding and a private donation, to cover costs of LIDAR scanning and opening archaeological trenches in fields surrounding church land.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Notes and references

1. Bede gives the date as 12 October in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (book II, chapter 20), but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives the date as 14 October. Bede also gives the year as 633; however, a question about what Bede considered the starting point of the years as he used them has raised the possibility that the battle may have actually taken place in 632.
2. Bede Ecclesiastical History, book II, chapter 5; D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (1991, 2000), page 71.
3. Annales Cambriae, year 629; Kirby, page 71.
4. Bede, Ecclesiastical History, book II, chapter 20.
5. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 626.
6. Bede, Ecclesiastical History, book II, chapter 20; book III, chapter 1; book III, chapter 2.
7. Kirby, page 73.
8. Does the Heritage of the Welbeck Estate Include A King Killed At Cuckney? Heritage Lottery Fund, 18 June 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2022
9. Battle group scoops £58k for castle dig Chad, 11 April 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2022
10. Archaeologists put in new £10,000 bid for Cuckney battle skeletons dig Chad, 2 May 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2022
11. Miller, Ben (15 June 2015). "Archaeologists plan to investigate burial site which could re-write 7th century Battle of Hatfield". Culture24. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
12. A group of archaeologists have announced compelling evidence which could help prove an ancient battle took place near Warsop Hucknall Dispatch, 4 May 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2022
13. Could this be final resting place of 800 warriors? Chad, 11 May 2016, pp. 18–19. Accessed 14 January 2022
14. Investigators hope to prove ancient battle took place near Mansfield Chad 18 October 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022

External links

• Battle of Hatfield Investigation Society