Battlefields›Battle of Wigingamere (917)
Early Medieval

Battle of Wigingamere (917)

917
Essex, England
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Siege
Location
Essex, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Danish besiegers (from Northampton/East Anglia)
VS
Victor
English (garrison held)
Outcome
In 917 King Edward the Elder ordered forts built at Towcester and Wigingamere; a Danish army attacked Wigingamere but failed to capture it and withdrew, having taken cattle in the area.
The Battle

History & Significance

Battle of Wigingamere (917) was an early medieval siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought in the area of Essex, England in 917. English (garrison held) prevailed over Danish besiegers (from Northampton/East Anglia). In 917 King Edward the Elder ordered forts built at Towcester and Wigingamere; a Danish army attacked Wigingamere but failed to capture it and withdrew, having taken cattle in the area. The precise site is not recorded in the surviving sources, so the location shown is approximate.

Approximate location. The precise site is not recorded in the surviving sources, so the marker shows the best available identification.
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Wigingamere (917) lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

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Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Wigingamere (917)

This page covers Battle of Wigingamere (917). 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 Wigingamere (917)

Moat Farm, situated 750m south west of St Lawrence's Church
Moat Farm, situated 750m south west of St Lawrence's Church
Scheduled monument · ~3.4 mi

Moat Farm is a medieval moated site located 750 metres south-west of St Lawrence's Church in Essex. The monument comprises the earthwork remains of a moat, a water-filled defensive or status-enhancing enclosure typical of medieval manor houses and substantial farms from the twelfth century onward…

Clare Priory (uninhabited portions)
Clare Priory (uninhabited portions)
Scheduled monument · ~5.9 mi

Clare Priory is a medieval Augustinian house founded in the twelfth century in Suffolk. The priory was established by Richard de Clare and became an important religious and landholding institution in the region, maintaining considerable influence throughout the medieval period until its dissoluti…

Oxyman / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bartlow Hills Roman barrow cemetery
Bartlow Hills Roman barrow cemetery
Scheduled monument · ~6.1 mi

Bartlow Hills is a Roman barrow cemetery located near Ashdon in Essex, comprising a group of large earthen mounds that date to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The site contains at least five substantial burial mounds, originally constructed during the Roman period to commemorate wealthy individuals…

James Yardley / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Hedingham Castle
Hedingham Castle
Scheduled monument · ~7.6 mi

Hedingham Castle is a Norman keep built in the late twelfth century by the de Vere family, who held the honour of Essex as substantial landholders throughout the medieval period. The castle survives as a four-storey square stone keep with decorative arcading and a dramatic forebuilding, construct…

Agnete / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
The Maze
The Maze
Scheduled monument · ~8.8 mi

The Maze is a turf maze located in Essex, England, with National Heritage List entry 1002194. Turf mazes of this type represent a distinctive category of recreational and possibly ritual landscape features found across medieval and early modern England, though their precise dating and original pu…

Jeff Tomlinson / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Dovecote at Blois Farm
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 miles
Sturmer Hall moated site and mill complex
Scheduled monument · ~1.4 miles
Latchley's Farm moated site and fishponds
Scheduled monument · ~1.5 miles
More from this era

Other Early Medieval Battles

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

Battles near Battle of Wigingamere (917)

Raid on Haverhill (1708)
1708
~2.4 miles away
Skirmish at Saffron Walden 1643
1643
~9.1 miles away
Skirmish at Newmarket 1643
1643
~13.5 miles away
Edward Builds Wigingamere Burh and Repels Danish Siege, 917
917
~15.2 miles away
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