Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms

Thames Valley Saxons

South of the Chilterns, and cutting a valley westwards through southern England from Londinium to the Goring Gap (near East Wansdyke), the Thames Valley proved to be the point of one of the earliest Saxon conquests. Unfortunately, almost all of the efforts of the Thames Valley Saxons seem to have gone unrecorded. It isn't even known whether they formed a single political entity, or if the various tribal groupings involved made their way westwards individually, fighting the Britons, and sometimes each other, along the way.

Along with the Ciltern Saetan, who moved north from the Thames Valley during the late fifth century, Saxons had been settling along the Thames Valley for some time. At Reading (on the southern edge of the territory of the Ciltern Saetan and encroaching on Caer Celemion), a group of pagan cemeteries bears witness to the great antiquity of the settlement at the confluence of the Thames and the Kennet rivers. The Radingas, Saxon for (place of) Readda's People, were one of the groups which had followed the Thames Valley westwards in the late fifth century, along with the Woccingas who settled at modern Woking.

However, there were Saxons in settlements at Reading (site of a possible Roman settlement), and further upriver at Abingdon, Dorchester and Long Wittenham from the early fifth century. Saxon cemeteries and artefacts mix in with Roman material, suggesting these areas may initially have been settled by laeti to defend the borders of the various British territories that were starting to emerge. Caer Celemion seems to have employed them in this regard along their northern borders from Berkshire to Wiltshire. Eventually, with a new influx of Saxon settlers arriving from circa 460-490, the local British were defeated and communities arose to the immediate west of the Middel Seaxe and their Suther-ge either side of the Thames.

It also seems possible that the Gewissae who are traditionally ascribed to the conquest of Hampshire under Cerdic actually founded a kingdom along the Upper Thames Valley. The region was conquered by the growing West Saxon kingdom within a few generations, and Cerdic's later chroniclers seem to have attached Gewis to his ancestry, probably in an attempt to give the West Saxon founder a legitimate Anglo-Saxon pedigree. The Gewissae name also seems to be a basis for the later Hwicce name, perhaps with similar origins.

By 592 the Thames Valley Saxons were firmly under the control of the West Seaxe. But, as pioneers of English settlement, they played a pivotal role in pushing back the British and opening the way for later settlers.

c.400 - 440

Small groups of Saxons settle along the Thames Valley, probably being employed as laeti by the local Britons to support their own defensive efforts.

c.440 - 496

Saxons intent on carving out territory for themselves rather than supporting the Britons begin advancing along the Thames Valley, encroaching on Caer Celemion's northern border (by circa 470), and into the Chilterns to encroach on the territory of Cynwidion. Defensive dykes are erected by the Britons which face towards the Thames, probably at the same time as the north-facing Wansdyke is constructed by British forces in Wiltshire in the face of the threat of Saxons breaking through from the Thames Valley.

c.441? - 471

A possible period for the campaigns of Cuthwulf (see 571). It may be possible that the campaigns are in fact those of Gewis, who may found an early kingdom or territorial domain in the region around this period. Later West Saxon chroniclers seem to confuse this with the founding of the West Seaxe kingdom itself.

fl c.450?

Gewis

Son of Wieg of Baeldaeg's Folk in Angeln.

Esla

Son.

Elesa

Son.

c.496

Probable date of the battle of Mons Badonicus, in which Ælle, as Bretwalda, attacks the Britons in the region of Caer Baddan. Ælle's route probably takes him through the Thames Valley to collect his forces from the large numbers of Saxons there, and then westwards along the upper Thames Valley until he emerges through the Goring Gap.

Is it this battle and subsequent Saxon defeat that breaks the power of the Thames Valley Saxons? In the pedigree of the West Seaxe kings, Elesa is given as the father of Cerdic, but if he dies around this period, his power shattered, and perhaps his bloodline ended, it would be a perfect opportunity for West Saxon chroniclers to attach Cerdic to him and his legitimate descendant.

556

A battle in this year is the first mention of Ceawlin of the West Seaxe. Elements in the construction of the A-S Chron text suggests that Ceawlin may be a ruler of the Thames Valley Saxons whose family somehow becomes united with that of the Cerdicingas (probably through the West Saxon conquest of the region).

c.560 - 571

The West Seaxe conquer the Ciltern Saetan in the start of a series of campaigns along the Thames Valley. These expeditions can be justified by the fact that the Thames Valley Saxons probably pose as serious a threat to West Seaxe security as they still do at this time to British security in Caer Celemion and Caer Ceri.

571

The Britons in the area of Biedcanford (possibly Bedford, near Luton, part of the kingdom of Cynwidion) are defeated by Cuthwulf (one of Ceawlin's relatives).

This campaign has long puzzled historians, seemingly relating as it does to a much earlier situation when the Thames Valley Saxons were still establishing themselves in the area and were only just starting to encroach on Cynwidion's southern borders. It has been proposed that its inclusion in the A-S Chron should be in the region of 441-471. The entry could be the sole survivor from a preface to the Ceawlin saga explaining how his ancestor Cuthwulf came to establish his rule in the Thames Valley.

592 - 611

First Ceol and then Ceolwulf of the West Seaxe secure complete control of the Thames Valley Saxons.