Читать книгу The Cotswold Way. NATIONAL TRAIL Two-way trail guide - Chipping Campden to Bath онлайн

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The Saxon era

The Roman occupation of the Cotswolds ended in AD 410 with the withdrawal of the legions and the advance of the Saxons. The Dark Ages that followed are shrouded in mystery, but it is thought that these latest newcomers brought with them a way of life that was not ordered with the same degree of Roman culture and organisation, and there seem to have been many tribal differences to settle. It was during this period that Arthur rose as defender of Britain.

Tales of King Arthur are a muddle of historic evidence and legend, but that these were unsettled times cannot be in doubt. What seems certain is that towards the end of the sixth century a battle took place on Hinton Hill, near Dyrham, between West Saxon warlords Cuthwine and Cealwin, and three kings of the Britons. The kings – Coinmail, Condidan and Farinmail – were slaughtered and the Britons pushed back to Wales and Somerset leaving the towns of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester in Saxon hands.

The Cotswolds were then ruled by West Saxons in the south, and Mercian Saxons in the north. The Mercian capital was established at Winchcombe where a monastery was founded. At the abbey at Bath, which became an important and substantial Saxon town, King Edgar was crowned the first King of all England in AD 973. The Church grew in power, and by the end of the Saxon period actually owned a good proportion of the Cotswolds. It was during this period that whole sheepskins were being exported to serve English missionaries on the continent, an export that began as early as AD 700.