Battle of Buttington 893
Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date (year) | 893 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 9th century | derived |
| Period | Early medieval, Anglo-Saxon & Viking | derived |
| Country | Wales | derived |
| War / conflict | Viking activity in the British Isles | Wikidata |
| Participants | Kingdom of Mercia, Kingdom of Wessex, Vikings, Welsh people | Wikidata |
About the battle
The Battle of Buttington was fought in 893 between a Viking army and an alliance of Anglo-Saxons and Welsh.
The annals for 893 reported that a large Viking army had landed in the Lympne Estuary, Kent and a smaller force had landed in the Thames estuary under the command of Danish king Hastein. These were reinforced by ships from the settled Danes of East Anglia and Northumbria, some of this contingent sailed round the coast to besiege a fortified place (known as a burh) and Exeter, both in Devon. The English king Alfred the Great, on hearing of Exeter's demise, led all his mounted men to relieve the city. He left his son-in-law Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians and ealdormen Æthelhelm, Æthelnoth, and others in charge of defending various towns and cities from the rest of the Viking army.
The king's thegns managed to assemble a great army consisting of both Saxons and Welsh. The combined army laid siege to the Vikings who had built a fortification at Buttington. After several weeks the starving Vikings broke out of their fortification only to be beaten by the combined English and Welsh army with many of the Vikings being put to flight.
Visiting the battlefield
The annals say that the Vikings came up the Severn from the Thames making the most likely candidate for the location of the battle as present-day Buttington, Welshpool in the county of Powys, Wales. Another place that has been suggested is Buttington Tump at the mouth of the River Wye, where it flows into the Severn but this is seen as less likely.
Location
- Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 52.6720, -3.0900
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Buttington (revision 1370435653), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Location of the battle”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations removed. No text added.
Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Cefn Digoll 630 · 3 km
- Siege of Exeter 630 · 3 km
- Relief of Montgomery Castle 1644 · 13 km
- Battle of Mechain 1069 · 14 km
- Battle of Maes Moydog 1295 · 16 km
- Battle of Maserfield 642 · 21 km
Other battles of the Viking activity in the British Isles
- Battle of York 867
- Battle of Ashdown 871
- Battle of Basing 871
- Battle of Englefield 871
- Battle of Reading 871
- Battle of Chippenham 878
- Battle of Cynwit 878
- Battle of Edington 878
- Battle of Tettenhall 910
- Battle of Tempsford 917
All battles of the Viking activity in the British Isles →
Browse more: battles in Wales · Early medieval, Anglo-Saxon & Viking · 9th century battles