Battlefields›Battle of Alclud Ford
Early Medieval

Battle of Alclud Ford

580
Scotland
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Victor
Brythonic
Outcome
Brythonic victory.
The Battle

History & Significance

The Battle of Alclud Ford took place between the post-Roman Celtic Britons of Rheged and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Bernicia around c. 580CE. The fighting may have taken place at an unknown ford near Alt Clut, the original name for Dumbarton Rock, which may also be used for the entire ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde. The battle is recorded in two poems in the Book of Taliesin.

According to Taliesin the Anglian king Ulph "came with violence on his enemies" and was met in battle and killed by Urien map Cynfarch, King of Rheged (probably Cumbria and/or Galloway), and his son Owain mab Urien, as noted in two separate poems. The Bernician attack would have been faced by spear and javelin armed horsemen, who made up the bulk of the Rhegedian warriors, whilst the Bernicians themselves would have primarily consisted of infantry as was the standard for Anglo-Saxon warriors of the period. Ulph was probably either the son of King Ida of Bernicia, most likely Theodulf, which puts the battle at c.574 or c.590, or potentially Frithuwolf, also known as Freothulf or Frithuwald, which would put the Alclut Ford at c.580.

The battle was fought at a time when Rheged was at its ascendancy, and the armies under Urien and Owain were the most powerful in the north.

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Alclud Ford lies on Inverclyde Group, bedrock that formed in the Osagean. The rock here is sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.

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Monuments
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Battlefields
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Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
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Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
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The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Alclud Ford

St Serfs Church, Dumbarton
St Serfs Church, Dumbarton
Scheduled monument · ~0.5 mi

St Serfs Church, Dumbarton is a medieval parish church situated in Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The building stands on bedrock of the Inverclyde Group, a geological formation of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone laid down during the Osagean period. This varied stone assemblage would have provided lo…

Fornet Cottage, crannog 290m N of
Fornet Cottage, crannog 290m N of
Scheduled monument · Iron Age–Medieval · ~0.9 mi

Fornet Cottage crannog is an Iron Age to medieval artificial island settlement located in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Crannogs of this period were typically constructed by building timber-framed structures on platforms within shallow lochs or wetland areas, providing defensive advantages and access t…

Langbank, crannog 180m ENE of Clydeview
Langbank, crannog 180m ENE of Clydeview
Scheduled monument · Iron Age–Medieval · ~1.4 mi

Langbank crannog is a prehistoric and medieval artificial island settlement situated 180 metres east-north-east of Clydeview in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The structure was occupied from the Iron Age through to the medieval period, representing a long continuity of settlement on this freshwater loca…

Bishopton,aqueduct NW of
Bishopton,aqueduct NW of
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 mi

Bishopton Aqueduct is a water-conveyance structure located in Renfrewshire, Scotland, constructed across terrain underlain by Dinantian extrusive rocks of Mississippian age. These mafic lavas and tuffs form the bedrock foundation upon which the aqueduct was built, typical of the volcanic geology…

Finlaystone House, timber ponds 505m NE of
Finlaystone House, timber ponds 505m NE of
Scheduled monument · ~2 mi

Finlaystone House timber ponds is a timber ponds situated 505 metres north-east of Finlaystone House in Scotland. The site lies upon bedrock of the Inverclyde Group, a geological formation of Osagean age comprising alternating layers of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. This underlying geology w…

Steel Cottage, anti-aircraft battery 480m NW of
Steel Cottage, anti-aircraft battery 480m NW of
Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

Steel Cottage is an anti-aircraft battery located in Renfrewshire, Scotland, approximately 480 metres north-west of Steel Cottage itself. Built during the Second World War as part of Britain's air defence network, the battery represents the extensive fortification of the Scottish landscape agains…

Dumbarton Castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 miles
Whitemoss Roman Fort, 175m SW of Rosarymount
Scheduled monument · ~1.9 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Alclud Ford

Siege of Dumbarton
870
~0.1 miles away
Siege of Dumbarton Castle (1489)
1489
~0.2 miles away
James IV's Siege of Dumbarton 1489
1489
~0.2 miles away
North Brae, Barochan
~3.2 miles away
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Sources
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