Battlefields›Danish Raid on Norwich, 1069
Medieval

Danish Raid on Norwich, 1069

1069
Norfolk, England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Raid
Location
Norfolk, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Sweyn II of Denmark's invasion fleet (commanded by his sons Harald and Cnut and his brother Asbjorn)
VS
Victor
Local Norman/English forces (Roger Bigod, Robert Malet and Ralph de Gael are named as mobilising against the Danes further south at Ipswich)
Outcome
Danish attempt to land at Norwich was repulsed, as it had been at Dover, Sandwich and (after an initial landing) Ipswich; the fleet went on to land successfully at the Humber.
The Battle

History & Significance

Danish Raid on Norwich, 1069 was a medieval raid, fought at Norfolk, England in 1069. Local Norman/English forces (Roger Bigod, Robert Malet and Ralph de Gael are named as mobilising against the Danes further south at Ipswich) prevailed over Sweyn II of Denmark's invasion fleet (commanded by his sons Harald and Cnut and his brother Asbjorn). Danish attempt to land at Norwich was repulsed, as it had been at Dover, Sandwich and (after an initial landing) Ipswich; the fleet went on to land successfully at the Humber.

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Danish Raid on Norwich, 1069 lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

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This page covers Danish Raid on Norwich, 1069. 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
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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.
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.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Danish Raid on Norwich, 1069

St Ethelbert Gate
St Ethelbert Gate
Scheduled monument · ~0 mi

St Ethelbert Gate is a fourteenth-century gatehouse forming part of the precinct wall of Norwich Cathedral. The structure, built of flint with stone dressings, stands as one of the most substantial surviving monumental gateways of its period in East Anglia. It served as the principal entrance to…

Gareth Williams / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Erpingham Gate
Erpingham Gate
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 mi

Erpingham Gate is a medieval gatehouse located in Norwich, Norfolk, built in the early fifteenth century. Constructed of flint and stone, the structure stands as a fine example of Perpendicular Gothic architecture, featuring characteristic pointed arches and decorative detailing. The gate was ere…

Nigel Chadwick / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Old Charnel House, The Close
Old Charnel House, The Close
Scheduled monument · ~0.1 mi

Old Charnel House, The Close is a medieval ossuary building located in Norwich, Norfolk. The structure dates to the medieval period and functioned as a charnel house, a repository for human remains, typically associated with the adjacent cathedral or parish church. The building represents an impo…

Ben Keating / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Norwich Castle
Norwich Castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Norwich Castle is a Norman keep built in the late eleventh century, constructed shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066 as both a royal fortress and a symbol of Norman authority in East Anglia. The castle's most distinctive feature is its massive stone keep, originally rising over one hundred f…

The original uploader was Bluemoose at English Wikipedia. / CC BY-SA 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Bishop's Palace gate
Bishop's Palace gate
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Bishop's Palace Gate is a scheduled ancient monument in Norfolk, England, constituting a substantial surviving gateway structure associated with the medieval episcopal residence at Norwich. The gate dates from the medieval period and represents an important element of the fortified precinct that…

Malc MacDonald / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Norman House, St Martin-at-Palace Plain
Norman House, St Martin-at-Palace Plain
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Norman House is a substantial stone dwelling located on St Martin-at-Palace Plain in Norwich, Norfolk. The building dates to the early Norman period, likely the twelfth century, and represents an important example of domestic architecture from the immediate post-Conquest era. Constructed of flint…

Gate of Bridewell, part of No 6 St Andrew's Hill
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 miles
The Dominican Friary (Blackfriars) Norwich: Becket’s Chapel, Chapter House, North Range, standing remains in the East Garth, and buried remains
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 miles
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