,. l : ?' i;1;'-'' ,.'.1 .,\r ,r-'i,ir . &t.' =} A newgenetic study has added fresh insightsto anarea of Englandrich in Scandinavianfinds and placenames. Steve Harding and MarkJobling describe their dramaticresults below. First, David Griffiths sets the scene LOOKINGFORVIKINGS IN hfiORTH-WE5TENOLAND As vou d.ive up the Ar,+oon rhe Velsh in DonesdayBook asd appdently Merciankingdom, we find muchmore facingside ofwir.al - rhepeninsula entkelyEnglish nme, Gravesberie pronouncedinfluence Fom the I.ish boundedbythe esttrdiesofrheDee (srdefebhh, strcnghotdif awood). Sea,with tradingand culru.al conracts mdtheMersey youwil cone to a Upton is Old Englnhfor farmon a hill w€stwdds 3nd nonhvards inro Wal€s. roudaboutvith a signpointing on (Oy'r,,,)- On the lefr, Caldy is a No6e treldd, the IsleofMmmd Scorldd. roweds Meok. Meols(pronounced namewhich is trdslated differendy by Howthes€people be.me the Il€lls) hasbeenthe sourceofan lwo leadingplacenme scholalsas Cold commondcesroB ofnuch ofrhe local e\r.aordinaryrdge of ancientdd Islands or Cold AJse.Nedby aie I rby populationtoday is a profoundly hiitoric arrefacts,exposed by rhe (Old Norse fo. fam of the lrish), fascinariflg srory.Bur who, in the erodingshore and collecred ar leasras Thingwafi(the sire ofthe localNorse nonh-wesr, were the original VikinSs? long aslocal peopl€ took wood fton a a,semblynound),dd Lddicd, a For thiswe needro turn todocumenrs submergedfo.esr fo. their ffres. Brythonic o. Old Welsh nme 01ar- You need look no tu.rher thm the Iead,, chorch ofst Tegd)- roadsign, howeve., to beginto These nmes reveala nixed TheVikings arrive understandthe unosualhistory of this populationof Scddinavi@s,Anglo- The fi.st Viking raids in the wesr were region.Ahead, West Ki.by derives Sdons,Welsh spealdngBritons, od on islandsofftheIrish coastio ^D79t, from rhe Old Norse fo. vilage wirh a immigrdrs from the European two yeds afte. the hmous raid on church (LiAjl-rtr), whne Meols itselfis continent. The hirtory and archaeology Lindisfdne 0',lonhunberland). Semi OId Nose for smd dmes (rrl.). To the ofno.rh wesrEngland srand apan permment settlemenrinIrelddbegan right, Franlby deriYesFon a fton the Danelawtmap,p,ll,where in the late8los in fonifiedcmpsar conbination of Old Enshh (fu,.a, Scandinavidsconrroled nonh and Dublin and elsewhereon the majo. Frenchnm\) and No6e (rjl, fam). easremEngland Fom the lare ninrh .iver systemsdd coastalhavens. In Greasbyisasubsritution of theNorse centu.r'.Heie on\vi.ral,oq thewesr Englmd, Ddes had r€achedYork by iirm nme ,r foi what wasr€corded facingseabord ofthe Anglo-Sdon 867.They over-winrered in l,lei.ia (at Br trshArchaeologylNovembef December 2008119 codr tufther east,where rh€y English. The.e is a strong chmce that requesredland on which ro serrle from the fmous Barrle of BruM"butb (%7) -4rh€Iflede, the rulerof Mercia.This took placeinvi..ai (although advocatesofothe.possiblelocations The historim FT Wainwright, on the Solwaydd Humber estudies w.iting in the r94os, .onvincingly vigoiouslydispute this). ln this proposedthe nonhen halfofthe dubiouslv-locatedburdramaric clashof !(irral peninsulaas I ngimund's arms,the Englishund€.,4thelstm probablesettlenenr dea. Acrossthe defear€da coalirionof Dublin based ; Merseyestuary,south-vestLancashireVikinSs,Scors and orhe. no.them hasan equally densecluster of fo.c€s.The Wiral locationwd Scmdimvim placenmes, in luding a proposed by the placenameexpen Thing*?[ assenbly place in West John Dodgson in an influenriai anicle Derby (now part ofliverpool). But as in the SaAaBook of the Vikif,g Society that side ofthe Mesy w6 palt of (r9r7).Bromborough, in sourh+at No.thumbriaat the rime,ir s€€msless Wiral, is the neeest placenme probablerhat it couldl€Sitinately have march: Ba,-r!r, (OE, stronghold of beenpan of Ethelfl ede'sgrmr of lmd. Bzu), md the strategi. position of the Yet it ce.tan y sawsignificat Viking two esrudies is a convin.ing backdrop. serrlenent. Were Vikings alJeady Som€verions of the story poftray rhe Iiving on one, or both sidesof the defeated Anlaf of Dublin fl eeingacrcss Mersey, perhapswelcoming Di"genen - pethapso e ot the I dgimund's folNers s kindred estudies, or den the Irish Seaitsel( migiants f.om distanr Irelmd or Folowing this mo.e seriousViking Scandinavittt is possible, but hed to defeat, the English grip on the area substdriare. Pl.cenmes @ only strengthened.A..ording to the Anglo- datable ro then fist w.itten .ecord, Sdon Chronicle there was dorh€. 6id Repton, DerbFhire), in 8Z-4, before which for here is mostly Donesday on Cheshire by a "nonhem mval force' heading north dd east again.R€pton is Book Go86).AJchaeological evid€nce in 98o,bur rhereafteruntil the onty 6okn from Cheshire,yet our tust does hint at settledent and t.ade in Norman Conquestthe din of wd "confrned sightitrg" of ScandinaviN Winel in the ninth century, but the diminishesin .elationto the moie on the Dee or M€Fy occurs at rhe %st naiority ofYiking naterial found humdrum sound of fomer enemies surprisingly lat€ date of89j. The ther€ dates fron later centuries. making a lMng together. I Anglo-Sqotr Chronicle records thar a Inginund was not satisfied vith his "dese.ted toord in 1840.ll i5 group ofDdes @cupied a lot. Soon aftesads he md his Themateriat tegacy city in Wiftl which is .aled Chester". folowes artacked Chester, hoping to Scandinavianssettled in borh rural dd These included rennants ofa force grab a shde ofits wealth 3nd sFategic urbm areas.Or yplacemes swive under Hestein which had recenrly been imponance.TheCestrianssuccesstu[yfton most rual settlements, but defearedby Alfred on rhe banks ofthe fought back, as rhe Ttuee Fragments ft agmenraryrenains of pre-Norman riv€r Sev€rnat Burrington, tel us,byunleohing sarms of bees buildings have been found in MontgonerFhne. Theywere chased md pouring boiling beer on the exc ations ar I.by md Moreton offinro Wales th€ folowiry yee by the attackeF. Wh.r€ve. rhe rruth ofthese (Wiral). At Meols, a longlived md Me.cims; rhis mayhave been rhe derails (Cheshire people de not noted mcient beach nffker on rh€ ro.rh occaion for the refo.tification ofthe fo. %ting beerl), Ingimmd retreated. wiral coast was revitalised by the der€lict Ron3n defences,although Yet the local Viking settlenents Vikings: wattle buildings discoveredin Chester*B not recorded d an offfcial renain€d as a thom itr rh€ side ofrhe eroding sdd dmes in the rgth century fort;,fied bwb Dtil 9o7. We know ratler more about dother Viking incident. In 9or the Irish €xpelled the Vikirys fron rhen be at Dublin. This causd political upheavals on both sidesofthe Irish Sea,md HiberncNotr imigration into the kle ofMm dd nonh-west Englmd. Welsh[i\ s @tuIer Ca6bide) telhs that in 90, a individual with rhe Otd No6e nme I/32,t (Inginmdr) seizeda Praceon n4& (Angles9 cared Maet RotM.liott. Awholly D^comected e Irish sourcecalled the Three FraAnef,ts ofAmals also mentions Ingimund dd his foloweB: th€y wei€ eiected ftom Wales dd folowed the 201Eritish Arhaeotogy Noember December 2008 weredesc.ibed as 'lorg nar.owsheds" - posibly a .efereoceto the longhouse g?e of buildingcommonir Vikirg Dublin,and also found at Llanbedrgoch,Anglese!. The erosion of Meolsledto thediscoveryof nuft erousViking artefacts,including rinSedpin5 of Hiberno-No6e npc, andothcr smalldress uemsbea.ing Vikingan swles.Ag.oup ofiron weaponsfound in r877mav havc comc from a Vi-king grave,perhaps sinild to abetter re.ordedempl€ found in rell in sanddunesar Talacre,on rhe Vekh sideofthe Dec estuarv. Chesrer.the maintown andharbou. in the region,nelersuccumbed ro VikiflSconrrol,unlike York or Dublin, apartfrom rharbnef incjdcntin 891-+. Yci it becanca tradingpowe.housein the roth cenrury,ed itsprorpe.i$ was nrnhlinked to the Irish SeaViking rvorld.Local Chesrerware pott€ry's cohnon inboth Chesterand Dublin. andVikinganeiacrs such as rhc Borc/ hadop to loo Anglo Sdon, Viking !ctivid andculrural asimilation. Jell'n8e style broocb excavatcd at York dd continentalcoi.r. Chcster's As elsewhc.cin oo.rhe.nEnglmd Hunrer Sr.cetschool in r98r.rinSed nintwls the morproductive in andrhe Islcofltlan, theparternof pins,andotherpios aod dress items, Englardin theearlv r o th cenrury:irs lo.dshipis markedbv stonesculpture, point rowrds the Anglo Scandinarid issuesdominatccoins in Irish hoa.dsof heremostlvin the dea\characterisric cultlr.l mixwithin the ciry. redsandstone x lo.al aftisricrradirion The Vikingswere master IIo.c rcccntdiscovc.ics underline adaptedbr the descendantsofrhe metalworkers,dd silv€rwasthei. tbe importanccoasilvc.irthcViking eeiiest Viking seftlers to helpp.omote prefe.redm€di!m ofwealth.The pcriodcconomv. ,{ hoardincluding,o theiro$n iegitidlcr. Scenrsfrom rhe Clerdalehodd from the bdks of the arm-ringsof Hiberno'No.se$pe wrs paganVikingp,st areofte. juxtaposed .ir. Ribble,deposited inc 9ot and discove.edat Huxl€r, solth exstof rvith Chrisriansmbolism. Wi.ral hasa .cdiscoveredin r81o,remains rhe Chester,in ,o o+,doring the first fes pa.ricularlydcnse clusrer of sculprure. la.gestsilve.hoa.d in the Vikingwo.ld. minutesofa meral-derecrinB.allv. Ar q ith smallerg.oops in Chesterand Over 8,too fragmentsof siller dd nearbvEcclcston. a smallcrhoard of northrast Vatei, aithough coinspoint toconta.ts asir afieldas hacksilve.$?s foundio ,oo,. surprninglvlitdeis knoM from sourh I raqdd Afghmistan.Not f& fron the I ndividualdiscove.ies emphasise westLdcashire- St BridgeCschu.ch, ho&d find spot,nerPreston, aq?icJ Vikinglinks: suchas asilverpennyof Wesr Kirbr, hasone ofthe nosr Viking leadweight with interlace AflIaaGuthfrirhson,King of York inp.essn.eerravs,