BattlefieldsSiege of Anderida
Early Medieval

Siege of Anderida

491
East Sussex, England
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Siege
Location
East Sussex, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
British garrison and inhabitants of Anderida
VS
Victor
Saxons
Outcome
The fort was stormed and the British garrison and inhabitants exterminated
The Battle

History & Significance

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Roman Saxon Shore fort of Anderida, known to the Romans as Anderitum and situated at what is now Pevensey in East Sussex, was stormed by Saxons in 491. The British garrison and inhabitants were exterminated, making the event one of the most complete destructions recorded in the post-Roman history of Britain. The fort had been the largest of the nine Saxon Shore forts, its walls and towers being the largest of any surviving Roman fort of the period, yet neither its formidable scale nor its naturally defensive position on a peninsula projecting into a tidal lagoon proved sufficient to protect those sheltering within it.

Confirmed battlefield location
Buried history

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Anderida was stormed by Saxons in 491 and that the British garrison and all its inhabitants were exterminated, leaving not a single Briton alive within what had once been the mightiest of Rome's Saxon Shore fortifications.

Casualties & Losses

The entire British garrison and inhabitants were killed

Forces Involved

The size of the opposing forces is not recorded in the surviving sources.

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Sources