Arthur's presence in west gloucestershire ?

[mike]

Can a case be made to place Arthur in west gloucestershire or at least
strong links there?

Several years ago I had read of a story (ref: hidden places of the cotwolds
by Shane Scott) about an isolated hill with arthurian connections so decided
to visit the site of this isolated hill in Gloucesterhire, shaped like a
pyramid, or at least conical, called Peaked Down (ST768991). This hill is
steeped in mythology but the most interesting hill as far as king Arthur is
concerned lies slightly east of it called Cam Long Down. He goes on to say
that according to local lore King Arthur crossed the severn to confront his
enemies here, i.e, the last battle at Camlann (cam long).
All this went out of mind for a time until a few days ago when I was again
in the area driving along the B4066 from Nymsfield into Dursley when I
noticed lanes called Kings hill lane, Bear lane or bear rise going off into
the direction of these hills previously mentioned.
Of course, I remember Arthur being given the 'tag' of the Bear by Gildas. so
I began to look at this on the O.S map when I got home, although I couldn't
find Bear lane/rise or Kings hill lane due to the resolution of the maps.
What I did notice on the maps of the area were place names incuding Cam long
down (camlann),Pen-Hill (as in PEN - dragon),Kingshill, Kings Stanley,
Kingscote, Kings court, Kingswood, and a few miles away Baden
Hill(ST674892).
The fact that Baden hill was mentioned at all whetted my appetite to know
more. It seems this Baden hill is not to far away from a place called Bloody
acre iron age camp ( ST689915) - Don't know the history of this fort but the
very name suggest that there could of been a battle here to be deserving
this name. It has also been suggested that Arthurian sites would be close to
Roman Roads and both Baden Hill and bloody Acre is close to the A38,
Gloucester road, itself built on the course of a Roman Road.
Yesterday (1-08-04) I decided to visit and take a look at the hill forts
called Bloody acre and Uley (ST782981) - Uley because it seemed to be the
only fort in the immediate area of Cam Long down. Unfortunately Bloody Acre
is off bounds to the public but Uley is a 32 acre hill fort that is in easy
reach of, and overlooking Cam long down.

Bloody acre fort as far as I can tell is protected on the west side by an
large natural lake and has steep sides above a stream 100 feet below.

I mention Uley camp because had arthur operated around here, it would have
figured prominently.
Uley fort is large and impressive with an gateway entrance to its Southwest.
Although I didn't walk around the perimeter of the camp, the camp itself
would seem as an impregnable fortress if it were like this on all sides. The
view from this camp of Cam Long Down is good, so good that one can see
earthworks on top of the nearby Cam long down (possibly tummuli) and
defenses on the slopes, something the O.S map doesn't appear to show.

Again I get home and have a look at the internet to see if I can come up
with anything, and from the webpage,
http://www.grahamthomas.com/history5.html I get:


A Welsh poem talks of Celi being burned and a battle taking place some 20-30
miles north of Bath with Arthur being embattled at a villa fighting the
Saxons:

"From yonder came Bran and Melgan, slew Diwel in their last conflict, the
son of Maelgwyn, at the battle of Arderydd, in the wood of Celidon they met
their end."
Taliesin

When the Stroud- Nailsworth railway was being laid in 1866, a large number
of skeletons from Saxon times were found just below the villa, an indication
of a battle being fought there.
Ronald Fletcher has spent years researching the old texts and is convinced
that the Battle of Arderydd took place at Woodchester and that Arthur was
crowned at Woodchester.


Apert from the name places already described there is one more point of
interest:

There are three ancient woods: Dark, Dingle and Rabbit Warren. There is a
legend that Dark Wood is derived from the old English 'Blacelawes' meaning
the burial place of heroes.

[Simon Ward]

Nice post Mike. It's about time that Glevum was re-established as a
focus for the fighting in the fifth century as it later was in the
sixth - assuming, of course, that you place your 'Arthur' prototype at
that time.

There are, however, some concerns in regards to the context of the
battles you propose, most notably the direction, or rather the origin
of the Germanic advance. In a fifth century scenario, an advance up
the 'A38' Roman Road from present day Bristol towards Glevum doesn't
match up well with the known areas of Germanic settlement. Conversely,
the Germanic force may have got lost, or, conceivably, might have
landed - perhaps on the banks of the Avon - but those possibilities
aside, pushing towards Glevum on the 'A38' road makes less sense than
advances along Ermine Way. In a sixth century context it makes more
sense.

You mention some 'Saxon' burials unearthed when the railway was being
built. It would be worth looking into this. Even though you're talking
19th century, some of the burial goods might have been analysed and
with what is now known it should be possibly to assign an approximate
date for them, and perhaps also any similarities with known Germanic
burials elsewhere. To know where they originated from and when they
were buried could provide sufficient answers to the concerns expressed
above.

I would also have a care when utilising all those English names.
King's this and that, Bear Road, Bloody Acre etc, would likely have
come through Old English in some way, or else have been assigned a
long time after the context you are looking at. That said, I find the
addition of another Badon Hill to the quota intriguing and have also
noticed, a few miles south east of Woodchester, another Amberley - a
name to conjure with if you place any credence to Ambrosius' defensive
strategems, whilst still having the gaul to hang on to the 'Amb'
prefix as denoting his involvement. (Lots of arguments there).

Apart from this nitpicking though, I would say it's well worth looking
into, especially the local mythology, which I've found a great use at
times (providing you recognise the allegory).

Regards

Simon