Battle of Wippedesfleot

Who Fought

History & Significance

The Battle of Wippedesfleot took place in or around 465 CE between the Anglo-Saxons (or Jutes), said to have been led by Hengest, and the Britons.

465: Her Hengest 7 Æsc gefuhton uuiþ Walas neah Wippedesfleote 7 þær .xii. wilisce aldormenn ofslogon, 7 hiera þegn an þær wearþ ofslægen, þam wæs noma Wipped.

465: This year Hengist and Æsc fought against the Welsh near Wippidsfleet, [Ebbsfleet?] and there slew twelve Welsh ealdormen, and one of their own thanes was slain there, whose name was Wipped.

This battle is said to have resulted in much bloodshed and slaughter on both sides, to the extent that hostilities abated for a while thereafter. Some historians believe in a Saxon victory, but that is not what is mentioned in the text. The limited number of casualties is an indication that the battle was a small one. The number of warriors involved must not have reached 200 men.

Wippedesfleot is thought to be Ebbsfleet in Kent, near Ramsgate. Its location made the author of the Historia Brittonum think that all Saxons had now been driven out of Britain. Wippedes is possibly a corruption of Latin oppidis in reference to the creek's position by the twin forts of Rutupiæ and Rutupiæ alteræ (Regulbium). Ramsgate is the main place upon the former Island of Thanet, "which was given to the Saxons by Vortigern". It was the very place where, according to the Historia Brittonum, the Saxons first landed. Ramsgate is on the North East coast of Kent. Ebbsfleet is close to Pegwell Bay, not to be confused with Ebbsfleet near Gravesend.

The only contemporary Brittonic source, the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae of Gildas, does not mention the battle specifically, instead reporting that "sometimes our countrymen, sometimes the enemy, won the field" until the Battle of Badon.

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Wippedesfleot lies on Thanet Sand Formation, bedrock that formed in the Thanetian. The rock here is sand, silt and clay.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Wippedesfleot

The Fisher Gate

Scheduled monument · ~2.7 mi

The Fisher Gate is a medieval gateway structure located in Kent, England. The monument represents an example of medieval fortification and urban defence infrastructure characteristic of Kent's medieval towns. As recorded in the National Heritage List for England, the structure dates from the medi…

Penny Mayes / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Salmestone Grange

Scheduled monument · ~4.5 mi

Salmestone Grange is a medieval monastic grange located near Margate in Kent, established as an outlying farm belonging to the Benedictine monastery of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. The grange dates from the medieval period and represents the type of agricultural estate that supplied provis…

David Anstiss / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Anglo-Saxon cemetery, Dane Valley Road

Scheduled monument · ~4.8 mi

The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Dane Valley Road is a burial ground located in Kent that dates to the early medieval period. The site represents evidence of Anglo-Saxon settlement and mortuary practices in the region during the centuries following the withdrawal of Roman administration from Britain.…

Sandown Castle

Scheduled monument · ~5.7 mi

Sandown Castle is a Tudor coastal artillery fort constructed under the direction of Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540 as part of a series of defensive works built along the Kent coast to counter the threat of invasion from France and Spain. The castle is situated at Sandown on the Isle of Sheppey…

Nick Smith / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Artillery castle at Deal

Scheduled monument · ~6.9 mi

Deal Castle is a coastal artillery fortress built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540 as part of his defensive programme against foreign invasion following England's break with Rome. The castle comprises a distinctive multi-lobed plan with a central circular keep surrounded by concentric bastions…

Lieven Smits / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Reculver Saxon Shore fort, Anglo-Saxon monastery and associated remains

Scheduled monument · ~8 mi

Reculver is a Romano-British coastal fort of the Saxon Shore system, constructed in the third century AD to defend against Saxon raids, located on the Kent coast near Herne Bay. Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the early fifth century, the site was reoccupied and a substantial Anglo…

Kevin Figg / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Other Early Medieval Battles

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• Battle of Wippedesfleot · Wikidata
• Battle_of_Wippedesfleot · Wikipedia