THE BATTLE AT APPLEDORE

Appledore from Instow
© Simon Murgatroyd

THE BATTLE AT APPLEDORE

Originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement, the North Devon coastal town of Appledore today is a picturesque village with narrow cobbled streets, and alleyways known as ‘opes’. Nestling on a steep hillside beside the estuary confluence of the rivers Taw and Torridge, it, or its neighbour, Northam, a little further up the hill, is also the possible site of two important battles, one involving Viking raiders in 878 CE and another a rebellion that, had it been successful, would have altered English history.

Appledore began to prosper during the reign of Elizabeth I due to increasing trade with the North American colonies, while Bideford, a few miles up the River Torridge, rapidly became the third largest English trade port for Virginia tobacco.

At Northam, a short way outside of Appledore, is a stone set into a wall, commemorating the legend of an ancient battle. Near here, at Appledore, the ghostly sounds of men fighting with shield and sword is occasionally heard – although there doesn’t seem to be accompanying reports of any visual sighting to go with those desperate sounds.

The memorial reads:

“Stop Stanger Stop,

Near this spot lies buried

King Hubba the Dane,

who was slayed in a bloody retreat,

by King Alfred the Great”

However, this story may be nothing more than a legend. During the time of Alfred the Great, Hubba the Dane – or more likely the name should be Ubba – landed somewhere with a fleet of ships and was soundly defeated, losing over 1,000 men. All we know for certain is that Hubba/Ubba was slain in the West Country, although there is no evidence to support Appledore and Northam as the location, but... there is possible evidence for a different battle at a later date: the sons of King Harold II who was slain at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, attempted a rebellion against Duke William of Normandy, which, unfortunately, failed.

According to the Anglo–Saxon Chronicle, Manuscript D: ‘After this came Harold’s sons from Ireland, at Midsummer, with 64 ships into the mouth of the Taw, and there heedlessly landed; and Earl Brian [Brian of Brittany] came against them unawares with no small band, and fought against them.’ 

This is plausible. King Harold II’s mother, Gytha, owned extensive land in North Devon during the 11th century. Harold himself landed at Porlock, a little along the coast at the other end of Exmoor, after a short exile to Ireland in 1052/3, and it is inconceivable that his sons and supporters did not attempt to defeat Duke William after the tragedy of October 14th 1066. The entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions the mouth of the River Taw, so Appledore would certainly fit the bill in terms of location, and so perhaps, it really was here that the fighting took place.

Despite his victory, and subsequent coronation on December 25th 1066 at Westminster Abbey, London, things did not go well for William. England was not as easy to conquer as he had expected. By early 1068 rebellion in the West Country was increasing – this was Wessex, mostly loyal to Earl Godwin, Harold’s father, and then to Harold himself.

Exeter rebelled against William. The town was always a wealthy trade port, and loyal to the Saxon Queens of Emma of Normandy, then Harold’s sister, Edith, wife to Edward the Confessor, and then to Harold himself. (Although Edith surrendered to William soon after Hastings, probably in a move to maintain her royal status and lifestyle – she also had fallen out with Harold early in 1066, so in some way, her capitulation to Normandy could be regarded as treasonous.)

William himself led an army against Exeter, probably because Gytha and Harold’s daughters were there as strong rallying figureheads. After a siege of eighteen days, Exeter surrendered and Gytha and her granddaughters fled abroad. Harold’s common-law wife, Edith Swanneck, was probably also with Gytha.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1067: “This year Harold's mother, Githa, and the wives of many good men with her, went to [modern day] Flat Holm in the Severn Estuary, and there abode some time; and afterwards went from thence over sea to St. Omer's.”

At the same time, three of Harold’s sons Godwin, Edmund and Magnus, sailed from Ireland where they had been taking refuge, with the intention of raiding as much of southwest England as they could with a fleet of fifty-two ships, provided by Diarmait, the High King of Ireland. 

William had already departed Devon, but had left a large force behind, headed by Eadnoth the Staller, an Anglo-Saxon landowner who supported the new king. He fought against the three sons at the Battle of Bleadon, the outcome of which was stalemate. Eadnoth was killed, and the brothers retreated to their ships. After this, Magnus is not mentioned again, so was very likely also killed. The two remaining sons continued to raid along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall., before wintering, again, in Ireland.

They returned with an army and more than sixty ships in June 1069, landing at Appledore and advanced a little inland to Northam. The Norman army, under command of William’s second cousin, Brian of Brittany, and William De Vauville, appointed Sheriff of Devon, were soon there to meet them. The size of the armies is unknown, but the Englishmen, now subjugated by the Normans undoubtedly had no choice but to fight for their new overlords – or lose all they had.

According to Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Northam Harold’s sons and their men fought hard – which is likely – but I’m not sure I agree that they were “unable to retreat because the tide was out.” This implies that they retreated as the tide came back in.

These were Viking longships, shallow on the draught. The confluence of the two rivers, Taw and Torridge, form dangerous currents when the tide is on the turn, plus there is a turbulent sandbar across where river meets sea – it was difficult to navigate safely here by the late 1600s, with the river channels starting to greatly silt up from the mid-1700s. But in 1069? Would this estuary have been as difficult to navigate for experienced sailors, manning Viking-style longships? 

Wikipedia states: “For many hours the Normans launched repeated attacks against the raiders’ shield wall, in almost exactly the same way the early stages of the Battle of Hastings had played out. The raiders’ line never broke, but they suffered heavy casualties. As night came, the tide finally returned, and the brothers army escaped to sea, ending the battle.” 

I concede that the tide played a big part in any withdrawal – but to cross that river confluence and the bar on an incoming tide? To row, or sail against a heavy, strong tide? No. 

Nearly all shipping would go with a current’s flow, not against it. My bet is that Harold’s sons and their supporters fought for as long as they could, but once the high, full, tide was on the ebb... going out ...  they dare not wait, for low tide would mean they would be effectively trapped. So as soon as the tide started to go out,  they had to take their leave in the hope that there would be chance to fight again another day.*

There was no further rebellion from Harold’s remaining sons. Probably, Diarmait, refused to help any further, seeing it (justifiably) as a lost cause. The brothers went to Denmark, maybe hoping for help from there. It didn’t come, and Harold’s sons probably joined their mother and sisters somewhere near modern Kiev – and then disappear from history. Ideal for fiction writers: a blank page to fill!

* A note in the Wikipedia article seems to support my theory: “In the eleventh century it was usual for ships to depart on the high tide. It has been calculated that on the day of the battle, the high tide would have been in the early evening.”

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