Buttington

Description

At Buttington, the Severn is crossed by an important ancient ford, Rhyd-y-Groes. Offa's Dyke seemingly joined the river here, its last surviving alignment after the descent from Long Mountain being only 150m short of the river. An Anglo-Welsh army overtook the Danish host of Haesten here in 893 '... and besieged it on every side in a fortress ... encamped for many weeks on the two sides of the river .. .' (Whitelock) The Danes were finally defeated and many of them slaughtered when they broke out from the fortress. In 1838, 400 skulls were found in three pits in the churchyard, 260 mE. of the ford. The pits had been lined with the long-bones, but though clearly reinterred, they were taken to be those of the Danes, many skulls showing signs of violent death. There is, however, an alternative explanation, for in 1039 this was the scene of the battle of Rhyd-y-Groes, the important initial victory of Gruffydd ap Llewelyn over the English. (Jones) The churchyard, together with the adjacent vicarage and its garden, occupies a slightly elevated area above the flood plain. When the bones were discovered there were clear traces of rectilinear defences around this elevation (SJ250088), which were recorded again in 1899 and 1912. No signs of these defences are visible today, but descriptions suggest an enclosure of about 3ha (4.94 acres). The detailed account in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle makes no mention that the Danes built the fortress themselves: it may have already existed in 893, and like Old Mills Moat, it may have served to protect an adjacent river-crossing on the boundary of Mercian territory. (Spurgeon, 1988)

Supposed earthwork camp built by Danes in AD894 in preparation for the battle of Buttington with banks visible in 1873 (Boyd-Dawkins, 1873). No such feature now apparent. Musson and Spurgeon state that there is no evidence to suppose the enclosure was built by the Danes but may have been re-used by them. It may have been an earlier enclosure. (Musson, C R and Spurgeon, C J 1988, 105-107). (Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust HER)