Cotswolds Ways: a historic walk between Hinton and Dyrham

‘The hall is dark tonight, without a fire, without a bed. For a while I will weep, then I will be silent.’ This is the beginning of a Welsh poem spoken by one of the loved ones left behind in the aftermath of a disastrous battle in the 7th century. The same words might’ve been spoken by the womenfolk left in the halls of the kings of Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath a hundred years earlier, after the Battle of Dyrham on Hinton hillfort in A.D. 577. This battle, if it truly happened as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records it, is said to have changed the face of our region for ever. The combined forces of the three British cities were routed by Ceawlin and Cuthwine of the West Saxons, cutting off the land connection between the British in what’s now Wales and the British still holding out against the Saxons in Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall.

Hinton hillfort, seen from Dyrham Park. Photo: Rick Crowley/Creative Commons Hinton hillfort sits between the modern villages of Hinton and Dyrham, just north of Dyrham Park. It’s a short walk from the church at Dyrham along the Cotswold Way to reach the Iron Age hillfort, dramatically ramparted against unknown invaders from a period of history we know far less about than even the early Middle Ages. People have lived in the area since the Bronze Age; echoes of the prehistoric people who lived here can be seen in the little ridges that cover the hills, where once they planted their crops. By the 10th century Dyrham was an estate belonging to Pershore Abbey. After 1066 it belonged to a Norman knight. After that, a cavalcade of Russels and Denyses, of Wynters and Blathwayts controlled the estate. The impressive house now belonging to the National Trust was built in the 18th century.

So, how did it come to pass that Fernfael of Bath, Cynfael of Gloucester, and Cyndyddan of Cirencester were all defeated in one battle? It was 40 years or so since King Arthur was said to have lived. By then there were Anglo-Saxons nearly everywhere in the land that would become England. The story goes that Ceawlin and his West Saxons fought their way inexorably west from the 560s, with battles from Bedford to Aylesbury to Eynsham to near Swindon at Barbury Camp, getting closer to the Severn all the time. Sometimes he was fighting the British, sometimes other Anglo-Saxons. In the west the British clung on to the old places of the Romans: Aquae Sulis, Corinium, and Glevum. Crumbling though these cities were, the stone walls gave them a sense of security and continuity as the world changed around them. They built up their defences from the old stones and carried on.

Anthony Nanson telling the story of Fernfael at Dyrham Park. Photo: Kirsty Hartsiotis It was Fernfael of Bath, closest to West Saxon territory, who raised the alarm to his fellow kings, sending out riders to quickly cover the miles and beg that the three little kingdoms stand together and fight in the Roman way, applying maximum force at a single point. All he could do was hope his allies would come to him as he bade goodbye to his wife and marched north. Cyndyddan and Cynfael made their farewells and marched south. Scouts ran and rode out, reporting back to say that Ceawlin and Cuthwine’s men had been spotted marching west, had captured an old hillfort near the Severn, were now cutting down trees and digging in. The three armies marched, Fernfael waiting on the hills above Bath to take on the Saxons at the hillfort. From there he could see the Cotswold hills snaking north and he could see the wide River Severn and the mountains of Wales beyond. He could see how many Saxons there were, down there at the fort, and his heart longed for his fellow kings to join him.

Dyrham church, said to be haunted by a grey lady. What’s her story? Photo: Snowshill/Getty Images Some say that Cyndyddan arrived, weary but ready for the fight after marching his men 27 miles from Cirencester. Cynfael got the messages last. He pushed his men through 34 miles of forest and fen to get to Hinton in time for the battle, and they arrived exhausted, straight into the fight, too late to save the day. The women waiting at home never saw their menfolk again. They had cause for lamenting, though we know nothing of those women’s fates.

Maybe that’s how it was. Maybe it wasn’t. Only 50 years later the West Saxons themselves were kicked out of Gloucestershire by the unstoppable Penda of Mercia. Things were no doubt much more fluid than we think – the Saxons and Britons intermarrying, forming allegiances to push forward petty grievances with their neighbours. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle wasn’t compiled until the 9th century, in the time of King Alfred. It may record the battle that happened – in the way that it happened – or it may not. It may be that the writers wished to assert the West Saxon claim to the land over the Mercians’. There’s a hint that there were once Welsh sources for the battle, too, perhaps in a lost triad.

In 2007, a group of people came forward to make peace between the Saxons and the British – or, as they’re now known, the English and the various Celtic peoples of Britain. People from various Pagan communities, led by Emma Restall-Orr, then Head of the Druid Network, and Kevan Manwaring, erstwhile Bard of Bath, came together on Hinton hillfort on 5 July 2007 (5.7.7) to call for peace and healing between the ancestors and the land and ourselves. They had walked up from Hinton village, where the pub is. There’s one pub and one church between the two villages, the church nestled conveniently beside the manor house in Dyrham! The peacemakers then processed south along the Cotswold Way to one of the many pools along the bottom of the hill to conduct another ceremony involving a replica Bronze Age sword that was ritually broken. Maybe we can’t recover the truth behind the ancient stories, but we always come back to them and find new meanings and revelations to glean from them.

ESSENTIALS

Distance: 4-mile circular walk between Hinton and Dyrham.

Duration: 2 hours.

Parking: Street parking in Hinton

Toilets and refreshments: Bull Inn, Hinton; Dyrham Park NT.

Further reading: Gloucestershire Folk Tales by Anthony Nanson.

Links: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/bath-bristol/dyrham-park/the-history-of-dyrham-park

Route: gb.mapometer.com/walking/route_5575833

Kirsty Hartsiotis is based in Stroud and available for hire as a storyteller and speaker. She is an accredited Arts Society lecturer. Her books include Wiltshire Folk Tales and (with Anthony Nanson) Gloucestershire Ghost Tales and Gloucestershire Folk Tales for Children. She is also a curator at Swindon Museums.