Battle of Guoloph

History & Significance

The Battle of Guoloph, also known as the Battle of Wallop, took place in the 5th century. Various dates have been put forward: 440 AD by Alfred Anscombe, 437 AD according to John Morris, and 458 by Nikolai Tolstoy. It took place at what is now Nether Wallop, 15 kilometres southeast of Amesbury, in the district of Test Valley, northeastern Hampshire. The battle was an internal conflict between the rival Britonnic forces of Ambrosius Aurelianus and Vortigern (Vitalinus).

In his book Historia Brittonum, Nennius affirms that "The reign of Vortigern, and the fight between Vitalinus and Ambrosius in Guoloppum, the Battle of Guoloph, are separated by twelve years". The battle is thought to have been part of the long rivalry between rival British kings Vortigern and Ambrosius Aurelianus for control of southern Britain in the wake of the Roman withdrawal in 410.

In the 12th century A.D. (largely fictitious) pseudo-history written by Geoffrey of Monmouth – the Historia Regum Britanniae – Ambrosius Aurelianus (Emrys Wledig, the imperator) is considered the son of the emperor Constantine. Geoffrey of Monmouth states that while Ambrosius was a child, his entire family was assassinated with only him and his brother Uthyr Pendragon making their escape via a canal at the court of their cousin, Budic I of Brittany. This attack was allegedly perpetrated by Vortigern, governor of the city of Dubris, one of the most important ports in the kingdom. Vortigern had formed a pact with the powerful Jute kings, Hengist and Horsa.

Years later, Ambrosius returned to Great Britain, disembarking at Totnes (Devon), to effect a reunion of the monarchs of all the kingdoms of the south with the purpose of forging alliances and solving collective problems. It was there that he was able to convince the Romano-British leaders of the Jute menace and of their alliance between Vortigern.

Historia Brittonum (Proyecto Avalon). Archived 13 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Guoloph lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Guoloph

Danebury Hill camp

Scheduled monument · ~1.5 mi

Danebury Hill camp is an Iron Age hillfort located near Nether Wallop in Hampshire, England. The site comprises a substantial single bank and ditch enclosure crowning the hilltop, enclosing an area of approximately 5.3 hectares, and dates to the Middle Iron Age, with occupation evidence spanning…

Hampshire Hub and University of Southampton / OGL v1.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Bowl barrow 400m south of Waters Down Farm

Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

Bowl barrow 400m south of Waters Down Farm is a Bronze Age burial monument located in Hampshire. The barrow survives as a round mound characteristic of bowl barrow form, a common funerary structure of the Bronze Age period. Such monuments typically contained inhumation or cremation burials, often…

Dave.Dunford / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

The Moat

Scheduled monument · ~3.7 mi

The Moat is a medieval earthwork monument located in Hampshire, England. The site consists of a substantial mounded enclosure surrounded by a ditch, characteristic of high-status medieval settlements of the 11th to 13th centuries. Such moated sites typically served as the focal points of manorial…

Dave.Dunford / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Deserted village (site of)

Scheduled monument · ~4.1 mi

Deserted village (site of) is a medieval settlement whose remains are located in Hampshire. The site represents the physical evidence of a community that was abandoned, likely during the later medieval period when economic and social pressures led to the depopulation of rural settlements across s…

Quarley Hill camp

Scheduled monument · ~4.4 mi

Quarley Hill camp is an Iron Age hillfort situated near Andover in Hampshire, England. The monument consists of a roughly oval enclosure defined by a substantial bank and ditch system that would have served both defensive and demarcating purposes. Dating to the Iron Age period, the site represent…

Boyes-Hannington / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Bowl barrow 100m NNW of The Plantation: one of a dispersed group of barrows on Stockbridge Down

Scheduled monument · ~4.8 mi

Bowl barrow 100m NNW of The Plantation is a Bronze Age burial mound located on Stockbridge Down in Hampshire, England. The monument is one of a dispersed group of barrows characteristic of the ceremonial and funerary landscape of the South Chalk Downs during the second millennium BCE. The barrow…

Dave.Dunford / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Other Early Medieval Battles

Battles near Battle of Guoloph

Explore the landscape around this battlefield

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

• Battle of Guoloph · Wikidata
• Battle_of_Guoloph · Wikipedia