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Wansdyke
Wansdyke (from ''Woden's Dyke'') is a series of early medieval defensive linear earthworks in the West Country of England, consisting of a ditch and a running embankment from the ditch spoil, with the ditching facing north. There are two main parts: an eastern dyke that runs between Savernake Forest, West Woods and Morgan's Hill in Wiltshire, and a western dyke that runs from Monkton Combe to the ancient hill fort of Maes Knoll in historic Somerset. Between these two dykes, there is a middle section formed by the remains of the London-to-Bath Roman road. Usage Wansdyke consists of two sections, long with some gaps in between. East Wansdyke is an impressive linear earthwork, consisting of a ditch and bank running approximately east–west, between Savernake Forest and Morgan's Hill. West Wansdyke is also a linear earthwork, running from Monkton Combe south of Bath to Maes Knoll south of Bristol, but less substantial than its eastern counterpart. The middle section, long, is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from 757 to 796, who is traditionally believed to have ordered its construction. Although its original purpose is debated, it delineated the border between Angles (tribe), Anglian Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys. The earthwork, which was up to wide (including its flanking ditch) and high, traversed low ground, hills and rivers. Today, it is protected as a scheduled monument. Some of its route is followed by the Offa's Dyke Path, a Long-distance trail, long-distance footpath that runs between Liverpool Bay in the north and the Severn Estuary in the south. Although the dyke has conventionally been dated to the Early Middle Ages of Anglo-Saxon England, research in recent decadesusing techniques such as radioactive carbon datingh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain, also called post-Roman Britain or Dark Age Britain, is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The term was originally used to describe archaeological remains found in 5th- and 6th-century AD sites that hinted at the decay of locally made wares from a previous higher standard under the Roman Empire. It is now used to describe the period that began with the recall of Roman troops from Britannia to Gaul by Constantine III in 407 and ended with the Battle of Deorham in 577. This period has attracted a great deal of academic and popular debate, in part because of the lack of written records from the time. Meaning of terms The period of sub-Roman Britain traditionally covers the history of the parts of Britain that had been under Roman rule from the end of Roman imperial rule, traditionally dated to be in 410, to the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597. The date taken for the end ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monkton Combe
Monkton Combe is a village and civil parish in north Somerset, England, south of Bath. The parish, which includes the hamlet of Tucking Mill, had a population of 554 in 2013. It was formerly known as Combe, owing to its geography, while it was also known as Monckton Combe and Combe Monckton until last century. History The pre-Saxon history of Monkton Combe is poorly recorded. It lay close to the Roman road from Bath to London, which has prompted the construction of a Roman villa in Combe Down. More activity is noted in the sub-Roman period, when it formed the end of the western section of the protective Wansdyke, which had been designed to protect Somerset from Saxon invasion. Combe was settled and cultivated by the Anglo-Saxon period, when it formed part of the hundred of Bath Forum. It was probably given to Bath Abbey, along with other surrounding villages, in the early 1060's by either Edward the Confessor or Harold Godwinson. The Abbey had been impoverished, and Bis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maes Knoll
Maes Knoll (sometimes Maes tump or Maes Knoll tump) is an Iron Age hill fort in Somerset, England, located at the eastern end of the Dundry Down ridge, south of the city of Bristol and north of the village of Norton Malreward near the eastern side of Dundry Hill. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Background Hill forts developed in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, roughly the start of the 1st millennium BC, first millennium BC. The reason for their emergence in Britain, and their purpose, has been a subject of debate. It has been argued that they could have been military sites constructed in response to invasion from continental Europe, sites built by invaders, or a military reaction to social tensions caused by an increasing population and consequent pressure on agriculture. The dominant view since the 1960s has been that the increasing use of iron led to social changes in Britain. Deposits of iron ore were distant from the tin and copper ore necessary to make bron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath, Somerset, Bath, and the county town is Taunton. Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of and a population of 965,424. After Bath (101,557), the largest settlements are Weston-super-Mare (82,418), Taunton (60,479), and Yeovil (49,698). Wells, Somerset, Wells (12,000) is a city, the second-smallest by population in England. For Local government in England, local government purposes the county comprises three Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas: Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and Somerset Council, Somerset. Bath and North East Somerset Council is a member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hill Fort
A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roman Empire, Roman period. The fortification usually follows the contours of a hill and consists of one or more lines of Earthworks (Archaeology), earthworks or stone Rampart (fortification), ramparts, with stockades or defensive walls, and external ditches. If enemies were approaching, the inhabitants would spot them from a distance. Prehistoric Europe saw a growing population. It has been estimated that in about 5000 BC during the Neolithic between 2 million and 5 million lived in Europe; in the Late Iron Age it had an estimated population of around 15 to 30 million. Outside Greece and Italy, which were more densely populated, the vast majority of settlements in the Iron Age were small, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bath, Somerset
Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, west of London and southeast of Bristol. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset. The city became a spa with the Latin name ' ("the waters of Sulis") 60 AD when the Romans built Roman Baths (Bath), baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although List of geothermal springs in the United Kingdom, hot springs were known even before then. Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre; the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the curative properties of water ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Woods
West Woods is a wood about southwest of the market town of Marlborough, Wiltshire, Marlborough in the English county of Wiltshire, United Kingdom. Its area is approximately . It is open to the public, and is popular with visitors in the Spring, when Hyacinthoides non-scripta, bluebells cover the forest floor. History West Woods was once part of the Savernake Forest, Royal hunting forest of Savernake until the bounds were changed in the 1330s. West Woods is approximately one fifth of the size of Savernake and was clear felled in 1928 then replanted, mainly with beech. The woods have been visited since before the Bronze Age, supplying flints and later charcoal facilities. Archaeological link to Stonehenge In July 2020, it was announced that West Woods was the most likely origin of most of the Sarsen, sarsen stones used to build the outer circle and central trilithon horseshoe at Stonehenge. Archaeologists and geochemists analysed a core drilled from one of the upright sarse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morgan's Hill
Morgan's Hill () is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Calne and Devizes in Wiltshire, England. The SSSI was notified in 1951 and again in 1987. Nature reserve The site is also a nature reserve of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. The main habitat on the site is chalk grassland, largely dominated by upright brome (''Bromus erectus''). Species present which have a particular affinity for the chalk habitat include chalk milkwort (''Polygala calcarea''), horseshoe vetch (''Hippocrepis comosa'') and autumn gentian (''Gentianella amarella''). Several scarce and notable species occur, including round-headed rampion (''Phyteuma orbiculare''), bastard toadflax (''Thesium humifusum''), fly orchid (''Ophrys insectifera''), fragrant orchid (''Gymnadenia conopsea''), lesser butterfly orchid (''Platanthera bifolia''), frog orchid (''Coeloglossum viride''), musk orchid (''Herminium monorchis'') and – unusually for a downland site – marsh helleborine (''Epipactis palus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthurian Legend
The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth's (''History of the Kings of Britain)'' is a central component of the Matter of Britain. It was one of the three great Western story cycles recalled repeatedly in medieval literature, together with the Matter of France, which concerned the legends of Charlemagne and his companions, as well as the Matter of Rome, which included material derived from or inspired by classical mythology and classical history. Its pseudo-chronicle and chivalric romance works, written both in prose and verse, flourished from the 12th to the 16th century. Name The three "matters" were first described in the 12th century by French poet Jean Bodel, whose epic ' ("Song of the Saxons") contains the lines: The name distinguishes and relates the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Arthur
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the Sub-Roman Britain, post-Roman Britons in battles against the Anglo-Saxons in the late-5th and early-6th centuries. He first appears in two early medieval historical sources, the ''Annales Cambriae'' and the ''Historia Brittonum'', but these date to 300 years after he is supposed to have lived, and most historians who study the period Historicity of King Arthur, do not consider him a historical figure.Tom Shippey, "So Much Smoke", ''review'' of , ''London Review of Books'', 40:24:23 (20 December 2018) His name also occurs in early Welsh-language literature, Welsh poetic sources, such as ''Y Gododdin''. The character developed through Welsh mythology, appearing either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odin
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Empire's partial occupation of Germania ( BCE), the Migration Period (4th–6th centuries CE) and the Viking Age (8th–11th centuries CE). Consequently, Odin has hundreds of names and titles. Several of these stem from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic theonym ''Wōðanaz'', meaning "lord of frenzy" or "leader of the possessed", which may relate to the god's strong association with poetry. Most mythological stories about Odin survive from the 13th-century ''Prose Edda'' and an earlier collection of Old Norse poems, the ''Poetic Edda'', along with other Old Norse items like '' Ynglinga saga''. The ''Prose Edda'' and other sources depict Odin as the head of the pantheon, sometimes called the Æsir, and bearing a spear and a ring. Wid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
