Celtic Kingdoms of the British Isles

Caer Celemion / Calleva Atrebatum (Romano-Britons)

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With the expulsion of Roman officials in AD 409 (see feature link), Britain again became independent of Rome and was not re-occupied. The fragmentation which had begun to emerge towards the end of the fourth century now appears to have accelerated, with minor princes, newly declared kings, and Roman-style magistrates all vying for power and influence while also facing the threat of extinction at the hands of the various barbarian tribes which were encroaching from all sides.

The city of Calleva Atrebatum, the walled capital of the Romano-British tribal canton of the Atrebates, could have survived as Caer Celemion (very close to modern Silchester in Hampshire - see feature link for more). It commanded a territorium in the south of Britain, although the name of that territory itself is unrecorded, making the use of the name of its civitas a suitable replacement.

The town had commanding views to the east and south, while the only access from ground level was from the west, making it an ideal position from which to conduct the defence of the territory in the fifth century AD. It was also well supplied with relatively shallow wells. Its territory would have initially, and roughly, included Berkshire, and northern Hampshire and Wiltshire. Caer Gwinntguic, a similarly obscure Romano-British territory, occupied its southern border, with Rhegin to the south-east, Cynwidion to the north-east, and Caer Gloui to the west.

There is no written evidence to bring any light to the survival of the overall territory, but archaeological evidence shows that Britons continued to command it into the seventh century, probably as a post-Roman continuation of the tribal Atrebates. Local place names such as Micheldover (near Winchester) and Candover (in Hampshire) are names which are of British origin.

Also a name of British origin is Barroc or Barruc. The Brythonic word 'barr' means 'top', with a locative suffix -aco-, the first part normally signifying a hill top. In this case, though, it specified a range of hill tops. The name must have been firmly recognised by the natives because, following defeat in the the seventh century, they must have provided it to their new masters, the Saxons of the Thames Valley. They adapted it into their language as 'Barrock', and it remains in use today - with the medieval 'shire' suffix - as Berkshire (or at least western Berkshire, to be more geographically accurate).

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Edward Dawson and Trish Wilson, from The Age of Arthur, John Morris, from Wessex, Barbara Yorke, from the Historia Brittonum (The History of the Britons), Nennius (J A Giles, Ed & Trans, 1841, published as part of Six Old English Chronicles (Henry G Bohn, London, 1848)), from The Age of Arthur, John Morris (Weidenfield & Nicolson, 1989 Edition), from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Anne Savage (translator and collator, Guild Publishing, 1983), from A History of the English Church and People, The Venerable Bede (Leo Sherley-Price translation - revised by R E Latham), and from External Link: The 'Town Life' Project, Silchester Insula IX, Silchester Iron Age and Roman Town (University of Reading).)

c.420 - 496

Saxons begin advancing along the Thames Valley, and into the Chilterns, encroaching on the territory's northern border. Under the overall command - if the scant literary evidence is to be trusted - first of Vortigern and then of Ambrosius Aurelianus from Caer Gloui, the region probably gains increasing autonomy as the century progresses, with sub-Roman magistratum becoming princeps.

Defensive dykes are erected which face towards the Thames, probably at the same time as the Wansdyke is constructed. There is also an Irish community within the walls of Calleva Atrebatum (Caer Celemion), as evidenced by the discovery of a stone carved with Ogham characters, which had originated in southern Ireland and is unlikely to date before the fifth century. It names one Ebicatos, presumed commander of Irish mercenaries.

This artistic reconstruction shows the amphitheatre at Caer Celemion (Calleva Atrebatum, modern Silchester), which was built outside the walls, to the north-east of the town itself

501

While the territory's main defensive focus has, until now, been to the north and the Thames Valley Saxons, a new threat emerges to the south-west in the form of the West Seaxe. With the initial conquest of their Hampshire heartland now complete, in this year their attention is turned more fully to expansion. None of the established defensive works has been designed to protect Caer Celemion from this direction, but the West Seaxe remain weak for some time.

Remembered by the West Seaxe as the giant, Onion.

Although a dating cannot be applied to a possible ruler called Einion, the appellation of 'giant' could equate a strong or particularly tough warrior, appropriate for a British enclave which holds out against the West Seaxe, even though it is becoming increasingly isolated.

552

Caer Celemion's southern neighbour, Caer Gwinntguic, falls to the West Seaxe, making the territory very vulnerable on its less well-defended southern border. Now in its final phase, in the walled city of Caer Celemion itself the basilica in the town centre is turned into a substantial metal-working area, producing arms and armour.

This map of Britain concentrates on British territories and kingdoms which were established during the fourth and fifth centuries AD, as the Saxons and Angles began their settlement of the east coast (click or tap on map to view full sized)

On the territory's north-eastern border is a former Roman temple at Lowbury Hill, on the Berkshire Ridgeway, overlooking the upper Thames basin. During this period it is apparently converted to serve as a look-out point which is connected to the territory's outer boundary defences.

568

Ceawlin and Cutha of the West Seaxe defeat Æthelbert of the Cantware at Wibbandun. This is notable as being the first recorded conflict between two groups of invaders, rather than a battle against the native British. The location of 'Wibbandun', which can be translated as 'Wibba's Mount', has not been definitely identified. At one time it was thought to be Wimbledon, but this is now known to be incorrect.

Instead it seems likely that the battle takes place near the boundary between Hampshire and Berkshire, probably disputed territory between Kent and the West Seaxe. It seems likely that the aggressive Ceawlin is securing his rear before mounting renewed attacks against the British to the west.

At the start of this period, the Angle and Saxon kingdoms on the east and south coasts were firmly established. Many of the rapidly-formed Romano-British territories in those areas had been swept away in the late fifth century (click or tap on map to view full sized)

An alternative which seems rarely to be considered is that the disputed territory is actually that of Caer Celemion, which still resists the invaders. They sit to Ceawlin's east, and may present a more urgent threat (or at least nuisance) than the Britons of the west.

Their region of western Berkshire is known to them by the apparent origin of the name - Barroc, a range of hill tops which may still form part of their defensive efforts. The West Seaxe use the name themselves as 'Barrock', with the 'shire' being added several centuries later.

577

The sub-divided state of Caer Gloui and its daughter kingdoms, Caer Baddan and Caer Ceri, all fall to the West Seaxe. The defeat is a disaster not only for all Britons of the west of the country, dividing as it does those of Gwent and Pengwern from those in Dumnonia - it also leaves Caer Celemion totally isolated, surrounded on all sides by Saxons.

By the mid-sixth century, Saxons were settling around Londinium, and using pots such as these for their cremation burials, while the seax blade is generally more Frankish than Saxon, but the city itself remained overgrown and in ruins for another half a century

c.600 - 610

The state or kingdom which governs the Caer Celemion territory is now destroyed, probably by Ceawlin of the West Seaxe. It is the last British-held territory to fall to the south of London and east of Dorset. The city itself is abandoned and its wells are filled in to prevent its citizens from returning, with the Saxons preferring to rule from their existing centres at Winchester and Dorchester.

Archaeological discoveries which include the skeleton of a dog and a beef bone suggest that the city is ritually cursed before being abandoned, although this could be due to the fear which is apparently felt by the Saxons of any Roman ruins in Britain, even though they are impressed by such ruins. The territory is absorbed into the West Seaxe kingdom.

About a century later, the twin Saxon towns of Basing and Reading are founded to the south and north respectively, along rivers on either side of Calleva (Celemion), leaving the city to decay in isolation. A Saxon village of Silchester also springs up about 1600 metres to the west, far enough away to be safe from any demons the ruins may contain.

Caer Celemion's re-use of a former Roman temple at the top of Lowbury Hill (near Compton in west Berkshire) in the mid-500s as a look-out point ended with the territory's fall, but it did see further use as an Anglo-Saxon cemetery

Today all that remains of the Caer Celemion which is becoming part of a Saxon-dominated England are sections of the defensive walls, in some places up to four metres high, within which is a church and a converted farmhouse in green fields, The town plan is still visible in crop marks and a spring rises near the former baths to flow out to join Silchester Brook.