The Battle of Hingston Down took place in 838, probably at

Hingston Down Hingston Down is a hill not far from Gunnislake in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the subject of an old rhyme, due to the prolific tin mining that formerly took place in the area: This Hingston Down should not be confused with the ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

between a combined force of Cornish and

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

on the one side, and West Saxons led by Ecgberht, King of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

on the other. The result was a West Saxon victory. According to the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', which called the Cornish the West Welsh: :In this year a great naval force arrived among the West Welsh, and the latter combined with them and proceeded to fight against Ecgberht, king of the West Saxons. When he heard that, he then went hither with his army, and fought against them at Hingston Down, and put both the Welsh and the Danes to flight. Historians of early medieval Britain identify the site of the battle as Hingston Down north-east of Callington in

, but some writers argue for Hingston Down near

Moretonhampstead Moretonhampstead (anciently ''Moreton Hampstead'') is a market town, parish and ancient manor in Devon, situated on the north-eastern edge of Dartmoor, within the Dartmoor National Park. The parish now includes the hamlet of Doccombe (), and ...

, Devon. The British kingdom of

Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...

, which covered

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

and Cornwall, survived into the early eighth century, when eastern Devon was conquered by Wessex. Conflict continued throughout the 8th century with Wessex pushing further west. In 815 King Egbert raided Cornwall 'from east to West' which, given later battles at

Gafulford Gafulford (alternatively Gafulforda, Gafolforda or Gavelford) is the site of a battle in South West England known from the first entry in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' for 823 AD (usually corrected to 825 AD): "Her waes Weala gefeoht Def ...

and Hingston Down probably indicates the conquest of the remaining parts of West Devon. This was the last recorded battle between the Cornish and the West Saxons and ended roughly a century of warfare that began at the Battle of Llongborth in 710 (see

Geraint of Dumnonia Geraint (; died 710), known in Latin as Gerontius, was a King of Dumnonia who ruled in the early 8th century. During his reign, it is believed that Dumnonia came repeatedly into conflict with the neighbouring Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. Gerain ...

). The last known king of Cornwall, Dungarth, died in 875, but he is thought to have been an under-king subject to Wessex.Charles-Edwards, pp. 428-31; Padel, "Cornwall"; Davies, p. 342; Stenton, p. 235

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{Calstock Parish, Cornwall H

838 9th century in England 830s conflicts