Eorpeburnan

''Eorpeburnan'' is the first place identified in the Burghal Hidage, a document created in the late 9th or early 10th century, that provides a list of thirty one fortified places in Wessex. It details the location of fortifications designed to defend the West Saxon kingdom from the Vikings but also the relative size of burghal defences and their garrisons. ''Eorpeburnan'' is designated as having a hidage of 324, its precise location is lost in history, but scholars have suggested some possible sites.

Background

''Eorpeburnan'' is the first of thirty one fortified places (burhs ) in the ancient Kingdom of Wessex, that is listed on a document that has come to be known as the Burghal Hidage. The Burghal Hidage was created in the late 9th or early 10th century and was so named by Frederic William Maitland in 1897.

The network of burhs, listed in the Burghal Hidage, was part of Alfred the Great's response to a series of raids and invasions by the Vikings.

The location of the burhs were chosen to defend the main road and river routes into Wessex from Viking attack. They were also a place of refuge, being sited such that any of the Anglo-Saxon rural population would be no more than from their nearest burh. In addition the burhs became secure regional market centres and a place to mint coins, particularly after 973 when the coinage was reminted every five years or so.

Name

''Eorpe~'' the first element of the name ''Eorpeburnan'' is possibly a personal name or the Old English for ''dark'' and the ''~burnan'' probably means ''stream''.

Modern location of ''Eorpeburnan''

Although the location of ''Eorpeburnan'' is not known for sure, the various fortifications in the hidage are approximately 40 miles apart and they are listed, in a clockwise direction, around Wessex with ''Eorpeburnan'' being the first. Thus the location for ''Eorpeburnan'' can be approximated.

The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records that in the year 892 a "great host of the Danes came up into the estuary of the Limen , with two hundred and fifty ships" and how they stormed a half finished fortress.

Castle Toll

It has been posited by some historians that the half finished fort, described by the chronicle, is Castle Toll, Newenden, Kent. However, other historians have argued against Castle Toll being ''Eorpeburnan'' for the following reasons:

* The Burghal hidage does not provide for the defence of Kent.
* The River Limen would have been too narrow for the Viking warships at Castle Toll.
* The position of Castle Toll is relatively inaccessible and would not have provided any of the usual strategic advantages of a Burh, also an archaeological excavation indicated that the construction of the fort was not typical of Anglo-Saxon works.

Rye

The town of Rye has also been suggested as the site of ''Eorpeburnan''. Rye is in Sussex and the hidage makes provision for the defence of Sussex. The second location listed in the Burghal Hidage is westwards of Rye at Hastings. However, there has been little evidence of Anglo-Saxon occupation in Rye. An excavation in the 1980s revealed the remains of a ditch, although it was not possible to date it. A more extensive survey was carried out in the 19th century in the town ditch area, when more of the archaeology was intact.
It has been possible to deduce the length of wall for each of the listed ''burhs'' based on the figures provided by the hidage. The length of the town ditch, in Rye, equates well to the hidage, listed for ''Eorpeburnan''.

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Anglo-Saxon settlements
Warfare in medieval England
Fortifications in England