24th September, 2006
Did King Arthur fight four battles in the Wigan Area?
The answer, unfortunately, is "no".
But eminent past historians have put forward interesting evidence which points to the Wigan district as a possible location for four battles involving Arthur and the Saxon invaders.
Before the evidence is examined it is necessary to discuss whether or not Arthur actually existed.
Did Arthur exist?
We all have a picture of King Arthur in our minds. He was a chivalrous and courageous King who lived in a castle called Camelot and had a Queen named Guinevere. His advisor was a wizard named Merlin. Among the knights were Gawain, Percival, Galahad and, of course, Lancelot who was desperately in love with Queen Guinevere. Arthur and his knights held council seated at a round table designed to show equal status for all.
The reality, however, was very different. If Arthur did exist he was a Romano-British war leader - not a king - who fought against encroaching Germanic tribes during the late 5th century.
Much of the evidence for Arthur's existence is contained in the verbal traditions of the Welsh bards. These were not written down until centuries later so references to King Arthur are said by sceptics to be later insertions.
The only contemporary written source for the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions does not mention Arthur. This was the "Ruin of Britain" (De Excidio Britanniae) written by a Welsh monk named Gildas. This work contains a "History of Britain" which chronicles the withdrawal of Roman military aid and the "coming of the Saxons". The omission of Arthur in the narrative is a strong indication of his relative unimportance and throws into doubt his actual existence.
Modern Image
Over time the legend grew and elements were added which exaggerated and romanticised the story and gradually introduced the characters and locations with which we are now familiar. By the late 15th century the legend, as we know it, had been established. Arthur was regarded as the ideal king, a hero, a chivalrous knight - concepts alien to the personality of the original 5th century "war lord."
This image of Arthur still exists today. The pictures on this page were taken at "Camelot" theme park, situated a short distance from Wigan. They show "Lancelot" dressed as a 15th century knight taking part in a traditional 15th century pastime. This is removed from reality by about 1000 years.
Arthur in Wigan
Between 1771-1775 the Rev. John Whitaker, wrote parts 1 and 2 of "The History of Manchester". In book 2 he puts forward seemingly good evidence for Arthur fighting four battles against the Anglo-Saxons in the Wigan area.
His main evidence is from the writings of Nennius who wrote a "History of the British" (Historia Brittonum) in about 800 AD. He mentions twelve battles in which Arthur led the British against the Anglo-Saxons. The battles which are relevant to us are numbers two to five. This is what he says:
"The second, the third, the fourth and the fifth were on another river, called the Douglas (Dubglas), which is in the country of Lindsey (Linnuis)."
The River Douglas, of course, flows through Wigan. Whitaker further supports his theories by quoting folk-lore and archaeological evidence of battles in the relevant area.
Among much local tradition he mentions a "barrow" called Hasty Knoll which stood until about 1770. This barrow was said to have contained "numerous fragments of iron, various military weapons, such as our ancestors buried in the graves of their heroes" "and the decomposed remains of one of the fallen chieftains."
He later mentions the discovery in about 1741 of evidence of a further battle "at another place". During the construction of the Douglas Navigation were found "a large collection of horse and human bones, and an amazing quantity of horse-shoes, scattered over a large extent of ground,"
Did Arthur Fight Four battles in the Wigan Area?
Well, unfortunately the evidence does not hold up.
Nennius is not reliable. Some of his sources can be found elsewhere but much of the information is problematic. It is a matter of conjecture as to whether his statements about Arthur fall into the former or the latter category.
Whitaker's statements about the Hasty Knoll and Douglas Navigation finds were probably accurate, but it is not known where these finds are now, so they cannot be examined. Anyway, there is no evidence to link them to the Age of Arthur. The mention of "horseshoes" found at the Douglas Navigation site surely does not fit into an early medieval context. I doubt if horses were shoed at that time.
Knowledge of the early medieval period has improved since the time of Whitaker. Place-name evidence alone rules out any links with Wigan and the Anglo-Saxon interface at the time (or alleged time) of Arthur. The Anglo-Saxon incursions began in Kent and gradually moved north-west. As their settlements became established British influence faded and the names of their settlements were subsumed by those of the invaders. There are no Celtic (Ancient British) place-names remaining in the south east of England but there are in the Wigan area. Bryn, Ince, Shevington and Pemberton, for example, are Celtic names or contain Celtic elements. This is good evidence to show that the Anglo-Saxons did not reach the Wigan area until relatively late.
This is now usually thought to be about 570 AD - 100 years after the Age of Arthur.
Shame really.
Rev. Whitaker's account of Arthur's battles in the Wigan Area (1775)