Battlefields›Battle of Dyrham
Early Medieval

Battle of Dyrham

577
Gloucestershire, England
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Gloucestershire, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Britons (three British kings: Conmail, Condidan and Farinmail, all reportedly killed)
VS
Victor
West Saxons (led by Ceawlin and Cuthwine)
Outcome
Saxon victory; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the West Saxons killed the three British kings and captured the cities of Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Dyrham was an early medieval pitched battle between opposing field armies, fought at Gloucestershire, England in 577. West Saxons (led by Ceawlin and Cuthwine) prevailed over Britons (three British kings: Conmail, Condidan and Farinmail, all reportedly killed). Saxon victory; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the West Saxons killed the three British kings and captured the cities of Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Dyrham lies on Lias Group, bedrock that formed in the Aalenian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, limestone and sandstone.

Casualties & Losses
  • The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that three British kings (Conmail, Condidan and Farinmail) were killed; no figures for total casualties or force sizes are recorded
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Dyrham

This page covers Battle of Dyrham. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
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.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Dyrham

Painswick Hill (or Kimsbury) camp
Painswick Hill (or Kimsbury) camp
Scheduled monument · ~1 mi

Painswick Hill Camp, also known as Kimsbury Camp, is an Iron Age hillfort situated near Painswick in Gloucestershire. The site is defined by substantial earthwork defences comprising a single rampart with an external ditch, which enclose an area of approximately 1.3 hectares on the hilltop. Archa…

Brian Robert Marshall / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Great Witcombe Romano-British villa
Great Witcombe Romano-British villa
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 mi

Great Witcombe is a Romano-British villa situated in Gloucestershire, notable as one of the region's significant examples of Roman domestic architecture. The villa dates to the Roman occupation of Britain, with evidence of occupation and development spanning the second to fourth centuries. The si…

Jonathan Billinger / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bowl barrow, known as Buck's Head round barrow, 540m east of Dunley
Bowl barrow, known as Buck's Head round barrow, 540m east of Dunley
Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

Buck's Head round barrow is a Bronze Age burial mound situated approximately 540 metres east of Dunley in Gloucestershire. The monument survives as a bowl barrow, a common funerary form of the Bronze Age period, characterised by its distinctive bowl-shaped mound. Such barrows typically contained…

Two bowl barrows, known as Climperwell round barrows, 310m south west of Climperwell Farm
Two bowl barrows, known as Climperwell round barrows, 310m south west of Climperwell Farm
Scheduled monument · ~2.6 mi

Two bowl barrows, known as Climperwell round barrows, is a Bronze Age funerary monument located 310 metres south-west of Climperwell Farm in Gloucestershire. The site comprises two distinct earthen mounds characteristic of bowl barrow construction, a prevalent burial form during the Bronze Age pe…

Cross in St John the Baptist's churchyard
Cross in St John the Baptist's churchyard
Scheduled monument · ~3.1 mi

Cross in St John the Baptist's churchyard is a medieval stone cross located in Gloucestershire. The monument dates to the medieval period and stands within the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church. As a parish cross, it represents an important form of community monument that would have served…

Philip Halling / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Churchyard cross in Holy Trinity churchyard
Churchyard cross in Holy Trinity churchyard
Scheduled monument · ~3.9 mi

The churchyard cross in Holy Trinity churchyard is a medieval stone monument of considerable age, likely dating to the late medieval period. The cross stands within the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church in Gloucestershire and represents the type of parish cross that was common in English ecclesia…

Philip Halling / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
High Brotheridge camp, Buckholt
Scheduled monument · ~0.9 miles
Castle Godwyn
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 miles
More from this era

Other Early Medieval Battles

Battle of Wippedesfleot
466
England
Battle of Crayford (457)
457
Kent, England
Battle of Aylesford
455
England
Anglian Assault on Roman York (c.450-500 AD)
450
Yorkshire, England
In the same landscape

Battles near Battle of Dyrham

Siege of Gloucester
1643
~4.1 miles away
Siege of Gloucester during the Anarchy
1139
~4.1 miles away
Siege of Gloucester Castle 1139
1139
~4.2 miles away
Siege of Gloucester Castle 1264
1264
~4.2 miles away
Explore the history of Gloucestershire
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