Have We Found the Lost Battlefield of Brunanburh?

The Battle of Brunanburh was one of the bloodiest and biggest battles of early medieval history. The battle features in the new Netflix movie 'The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die', but what really happened? Fought 1100 years ago, Athelstan - the king of the English - opposed a coalition of Irish, Scots and Vikings led by Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Dublin, Constantine II, King of Scotland, and Owain, King of Strathclyde and attained a decisive victory. The enemy shield wall was penetrated. Their troops ran back to their ships for safety. Thousands died.

Apart from this we know little else. No physical evidence exists of where the battle was even fought. But recently, a stunning discovery has been made that might provide the answer to the key question - where was the Battle of Brunanbruh fought?

Dan Snow heads to a field in Wirral where a group of archaeologists have found a huge amount of battlefield detritus from around the 10th Century. Has the search to find the lost battlefield of Brunanburh finally ended?

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[TihetrisWeathersby]

One of the things love about these shows is they keep us interested in the real history behind them

[blzbob]

Yep, you guys have nailed it. I live in the North West of England and have always been intrigued by the Old Norse place names up and down our coast. It was settled by many 'Viking' descendants. Some buried their silver prior to rejoining their kin in battles, never to return. All the hoards pre date Athelstans 'Battle of Brunanburgh', but this shows how partisan they stayed, long after settling in their own spot. (How they communicated and coordinated a battle back then baffles me!). This massive battle was the big one. The fact the site was not known for 1100 yrs is baffling too. But I have a theory . . . Imagine if you were living on the Wirral in 902 when it was gifted to the Dublin viking descendants. This area was basically taken over by foreigners. They caused trouble in Chester and were defeated. They spread up the coast, but some remained. Fast forward to 937. All that are left on the Wirral are well settled farmers and fishermen etc. A massive battle takes place in your fields. You have no clue as to why or how all these foreigners and outsiders chose your land to fight on. They come, spill blood, and cause mayhem for a few days, then they are gone. What would you do if you were the farmers? You clear the fields and carry on. You do not lament about it because you cannot take sides. And you cannot write about it because you are illiterate anyway. Anybody of status from the area was likely killed by taking part. So the Wirrall becomes a dead zone, literally and historically. The epitome of the Dark Age. And as it is a land mass that juts out from the mainland it would have had the identity of being separate. Sorry, this is a very long winded way of explaining the mindset of the locals, and as to why the battle was never linked to the Wirral. . . . Over

[mattmurdoch]

Actually, as someone mentioned below, I think it would be great to have Stuart from time to you coming to survey the land. His eye at interpreting the landscape is extraordinary and he is capable of interpreting detail in the landscape that others seem to miss. His contribution to something so important Would be a valuable thing to have.

[KernowekTim]

Dan loves it. And that, is what makes it. Watching Dan examining the artefacts coming from pocket to hand, shows Dan's deep love for our ancient and not so ancient past. Good man.

[mikepelosi]

I've been a fan of history since I've been a young lad (one of the few subjects that kept my attention and GPA up in school) but, for some reason, the Last Kingdom has drawn me into English/European/Nordic history more than any other historical drama. And I say this with all due respect: it's a shame the show didn't get a bigger budget and more marketing. History Hit, as always, has done a fantastic job tying in the real underlying history and bridging the gap between entertainment and reality. By centering major historical events on biggest players involved, History Hit brings the drama and makes the details necessary to understand how the real stories played out that shaped the world.

[mushroom-mac]

I grew up just around the corner from this site I know exactly were you are. I live about a 1500 yards away we moved there in the 70’s onto a housing estate being built, I remember as a child we had to dig our own drainage a few neighbours helped each other I remember my neighbour (who’s now dead unfortunately ) dug up a spear head and also found a small axe head they sat in his garage for years. The axe head and spear tip were found close to brimstage road.

[daejavue]

As a massive fan of Bernard's Cornwell last kingdom & his Sharp series has shone a light in an exciting way of our British History & the Birth of England as a nation .

He follows the early battles led by King Alfred the Great, Aethelstan being his grandson & the king at the time of the Battle of Brunanburh, cementing the kingdom in to one Engaland .

Following this story of where the great battle took place has been a history jigsaw, still to completed & my money is on the great work the Wirrel Archialogical have been dong over the years & thank you BC for igniting my interest in our history .

[MseeBMe]

This is astounding; a huge tip of the hat to the Wirral Archaeology group!

[observationsfromthebunker]

I was very interested and excited when this video appeared in my feed. Brunanburh is the one of the most important battles in the history of the English-speaking peoples that the average person has never heard about. The amount of the artifacts found by the Wirral group in the probable location is very encouraging!

[Alun]

Utterly fascinating. I watched The Last Kingdom finale a couple of days ago. To see artefacts from the actual battle fields is fascinating.

[bobfunkhouse]

I have lived in Bromborough and all my life and the is a old court house in the village and the urban legend is that the archers sharpened their arrows on the wall before the battle. Also local history says it was fought on Bebington common which is gone today but ran between Bromborough and Bebington which is mostly built on now.
Having spent a few years reading about this battle and knowing the local geography, if the battle did happen here i think the best and closest landing spot for boats would of been the modern new ferry shore. That would put them within a two to four miles (there about) of the possible battle sites. With it saying the Vikings were drove back there ships.
Will also add that Wirral also has a big natural rock in Thurstaston Common nature reserve that is called Thor's rock, which apparently comes from Vikings of the time.

[David-oiim]

... the war vestiges found on that field had me mesmerized, , I mean a thousand years ago, how much more history do you need to certify this ground as truly historic!!!

[NailahRoberts]

Bromborough is my neck of the woods and I was brought up being told that there was a Viking battle in Bromborough.

[sarahharrison]

Fascinating, . Our primary school in Bromborough taught us about the battle and that it was most likely fought here on Wirral. Our teacher would take the class down to the river Dibbin ( runs through Bromborough to the Mersey) and point out that the topography of the banks to show it was much bigger and possibly navigable around the time the battle took place. I heard a few years ago Wirral Archaeology had made a significant discovery and that an announcement would be made, so this video is really interesting to watch.

[FreeFallingAir]

I'm absolutely fascinated by this time in English history. Thanks history Hit

[alancoe]

Super-viking Egil Skallagrimsson was a friend of Æthelstan's and present at this battle. An account of it is in Egil's Saga. Thanks for the history spade-work and dedication.

[harbourdogNL]

Fascinating indeed. And she sure knows her stuff– not a pause, not an um or an ah. Refreshing to hear knowledgeable delivery without pause.

[barbarossarotbart]

Do you know what I like on all of your documentaries? The fact that you include uncut interviews with scientists. Most modern documentaries cut those interviews in a way that makes them look if they support the theory of the presenter, even if this is not the case. I've got the feeling that it is more important today that a documentary correlate with the current Zeitgeist and not with historical facts. (The best example for this is Netflix' Cleopatra documentary, but sadly it is not the only one.)

[Dannyboyefc]

I’m glad the series brought to light the battle and used the Wirral as the potential location.

[Cara-]

So many people consider 1066 to be the beginning of British history but this battle is essentially the starting point. Also, the only 2 English rulers given the epithet "the Great", Alfred and Cnut, reigned before the Norman Conquest