MUTUALLY ASSURED CONSTRUCTION Æthelflæd’s burhs, Landscapes of Defence and the Physical Legacy of the Unification of England, 899-1016 Submitted by David John Fiander Stone to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology March 2017 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: …………………………………………………………. Abstract This thesis examines the physical legacy left by the unification of the Kingdom of England during the tenth century, and seeks to redress the way in which the Kingdom of Mercia is often overlooked or discounted in the traditional historical narrative. It principally examines the means by which Æthelflæd of Mercia extended political and military control over the West Midlands, both in terms of physical infrastructure and through ‘soft’ power in terms of economic control and material culture. It uses landscape archaeology, artefactual and textual evidence to compare Mercia with its ally, Wessex, and assess the different means by which Æthelflæd of Mercia and her brother Edward the Elder were able to consolidate and expand their territory, the physical infrastructure they established in order to defend it, and the ways in which these sites developed in response to the changing political, military and economic climates of the later tenth century. It will assess why some defensive sites developed into proto-urban settlements while others disappeared, and the extent to which this was a conscious or planned process. This thesis seeks to overturn the idea that burhs constructed in Mercia were insignificant or unplanned ‘emergency’ sites and instead were part of a sophisticated network of landscapes of defence, reflecting a significant level of manpower and logistical investment on the part of the Mercian state. It will furthermore seek to explore the ways in which the Mercian state supported such a network, how sites were chosen, constructed, maintained and garrisoned, and the impact these sites had both on the local population, in terms of patterns of settlement and material culture, and on the wider political scale. Acknowledgements I am grateful foremost to my supervisors, Professor Oliver Creighton and Dr Levi Roach for all their help and guidance in researching and writing this thesis, and to Rory Naismith at the Fitzwilliam Museum, and Robert Webley of the Portable Antiquities Scheme for their help with the finer points of Anglo-Saxon numismatics and material culture. Thanks also go to Ray at Lower Drayton Farm for facilitating access to much of my fieldwork, and helping liaise with local metal detectorists. Dedicated to my family and to Jade for their incredible support. 2 Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................. 5 Notes on Abbreviations and References .................................................................. 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 9 I: The State of Play: Anglo-Saxon History, ‘Burghal Hidage Studies’ and Mercia 13 Enclosures, Forts and Towns: Burghal Terminology ................................................ 17 The Burghal Hidage as Documentary Evidence ...................................................... 21 Burhs and the Administration of Defence ................................................................ 25 Burhs: Form, Function and Location ........................................................................ 27 Civil Functions: Burhs as Economic, Symbolic and Religious Sites ......................... 35 A Burghal Network? ................................................................................................ 39 II: Burghal Paradigms: Bridgnorth, Eddisbury and Chirbury ................................ 45 Eddisbury ................................................................................................................ 47 Bridgnorth................................................................................................................ 60 Chirbury .................................................................................................................. 69 III: Communications and Visual Networks in Landscape Control ......................... 77 Connecting to the Network: Communications and Beacons .................................... 78 An Anglo-Saxon Beacon Chain? ............................................................................. 79 Identifying a Potential Beacon Network ................................................................... 82 Development and Archaeology of Beacon Sites ...................................................... 84 Identifying Areas for Case Study ............................................................................. 87 Case Studies Methodology: Preliminary Surveys .................................................... 91 Testing the Network: Fieldwork and Visibility Surveys ............................................. 97 Staffordshire: Derby to Totmonslow ..................................................................... 99 Cheshire: Chester to Wardle .............................................................................. 108 Staffordshire: Watling Street to Stoke-on-Trent .................................................. 117 IV: Burghal Minting: Coinage and Context............................................................ 129 The Evolution of the Coinage ................................................................................ 131 Catalogues, Hoards and Single Finds: Working with the Coinage ......................... 135 Burghal Minting: Design and Function ................................................................... 138 Coinage Distribution and Economic Networks ....................................................... 153 3 V: Fashion, Function and Fortification: Material Culture and the Proliferation of Political Control and Cultural Identity ................................................................... 173 Ceramics ............................................................................................................... 178 Metalwork .............................................................................................................. 187 Cheshire ............................................................................................................ 199 Shropshire ......................................................................................................... 201 Staffordshire ...................................................................................................... 205 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 213 Appendix ................................................................................................................. 229 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 240 4 List of Figures 1. Plan of Tamworth's defensive circuit (Bassett, 2008) ...................................... 32 2. Reconstruction of Tamworth defensive ramparts (Gould, 1968) ...................... 32 3. Defensive circuits at Hereford (Bassett, 2008) ................................................. 33 4. Defensive circuit at Stafford (Carver, 2010b) ................................................... 34 5. Pictorial coinage of Edward the Elder from the Chester mint (EMC) ................ 36 6. Topographical map of Eddisbury, Bridgnorth and Chirbury in west Mercia ...... 46 7. Map of Eddisbury and environs within the Cheshire Plain ............................... 48 8. Aerial photograph of Eddisbury Hillfort (University of Liverpool) ...................... 49 9. LIDAR data of Eddisbury Hillfort (Cheshire West and Chester Council) ........... 50 10. Plan of 1935-9 excavations at Eddisbury Hillfort (Varley, 1950)....................... 52 11. Plan of areas of significant excavation at Eddisbury Hillfort ............................. 52 12. 1937 sketches of ramparts at the north-west entrance to Eddisbury (Varley, 1950) .............................................................................................................. 56 13. 1937 sketches of Inner and outer northern ramparts at Eddisbury (Varley, 1950) ........................................................................................................................ 58 14. Map of Bridgnorth and environs ...................................................................... 61 15. Digital terrain model of Bridgnorth (Geomatics Group UK) .............................. 63 16. Map of two possible defensive ditches at Bridgnorth ....................................... 66 17. Map of probable defensive circuits at Bridgnorth ............................................. 68 18. Map of Chirbury and environs ......................................................................... 70 19. OS map of modern Chirbury (Ordnance Survey) ............................................. 70 20. Digital terrain model of Chirbury village and ringwork (The Environment Agency)