Battle of Ellendun

The Battle of Ellendun or Battle of Wroughton was fought between Ecgberht of Wessex and Beornwulf of Mercia in September 825. Sir Frank Stenton described it as "one of the most decisive battles of English history". It effectively ended Mercian Supremacy over the southern kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England and established West Saxon dominance in southern England.

Location[edit]

The Battle of Ellendun is thought to have taken place south of Swindon, in Wiltshire, but the exact site has not been determined. William Camden, in his 1610 gazetteer A Chronological description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, suggests that the battle took place close to Wilton, just to the west of Salisbury.^[1] Charles Oman used geographical information and contemporary boundaries as evidence to suggest the battle occurred at Wroughton,^[2] which is 4 miles (6 km) south of Swindon. T. Spicer has suggested the battle took place on the grounds of what is now Lydiard Park, in Swindon.

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Burne, A. H.

(1911). Cambridge Medieval History volumes 1–5. Cambridge: MacMillan.

Bury, J. B.

(2006). Battles of the Dark Ages. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 1-84415-270-7.

Marren, Peter

Savage, Anne (1996). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Coombe Books. 1-85833-478-0.

ISBN

(1988). Anglo-Saxon England. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821716-1.