Archenfield
Encyclopedia
Archenfield is the historic English
name for an area of southern and western Herefordshire
in England
. Since the Anglo-Saxons
took over the region in the 8th century, it has stretched between the River Monnow
and River Wye
, but it derives from the once much larger Welsh
kingdom of Ergyng
.
kingdom of Ergyng (or Ercic), which in turn is believed to derive from the Roman
town of Ariconium
at Weston under Penyard. After the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain in 410 AD, new smaller political entities took the place of the centralised structure. From about 555 AD, the area was ruled by King Peibio
and his descendants until, in the middle of the 7th century, Onbraust of Ergyng married Meurig of Gwent and the two neighbouring kingdoms were combined. The area was converted to Christianity in the 6th century by Saint Dubricius
(known in Welsh as Dyfrig). Ergyng eventually became a mere cantref, the Welsh equivalent of a hundred.
led to conflict with the Welsh, and by the beginning of the 9th century the western Mercians, who became known as the sub-kingdom of Magonset, had gained control over the area and nearby Hereford
. During the rest of the century they moved its frontier southward to the banks of the Dore
, the Worm Brook
and a stream then known as the Taratur, annexing northern Ergyng. The sites of old British churches fell to Mercia, and the British became foreigners - or, in the English language, "Welsh" - in what had been their own land. The rump of Ergyng then became known to the English as Arcenefelde or Archenfield. There is no evidence that Offa
built his famous Dyke
across the area, probably because it had already been assimilated into Mercia by the late 8th century.
In 915, the area faced an incursion from Vikings led by Ohter and Rhoald, coming from the River Severn
. After first capturing Cyfeiliog (Cimeliauc), the Bishop of Llandaff
, they were defeated in battle by the combined forces of Gloucester and Hereford, possibly at "Kill Dane Field" near Weston under Penyard.
In the early 10th century, a document known as The Ordinance Concerning the Dunsaete records procedures for dealing with disputes between the English and the Welsh of Archenfield, who were known to the Saxons as the Dunsaete or "hill people". It stated that the English should only cross into the Welsh side, and vice versa, in the presence of an appointed man who had the responsibility of making sure that the foreigner was safely escorted back to the crossing point.
Archenfield, which lay outside the English hundred system, became a semi-autonomous Welsh district, or commote
(Welsh
cwmwd), with its own customs. Its administrative centre was at Kilpeck
Castle. Its customs were described in a separate section of the Domesday Book
account of Herefordshire. Domesday recorded that "King Gruffydd and Bleddyn laid this land waste before 1066; therefore what it was like at that time is not known". It also stated the Welsh of Archenfield were allowed to retain their old rights and privileges in return for forming an advance and rear guard when the King's army entered or left Wales. The local priests were required to "undertake the king's embassies into Wales", presumably providing a translation service. The exemption from services was mentioned again in 1250 and 1326, when it was stated: "The Frenchmen and Welshmen of Urchenesfeld hold their tenements in chief of our lord the King by socage
, rendering 19 pounds 7 shillings and 6 pence. And they ought to find 49 foot-soldiers for our lord the King in Wales for 15 days at their own cost."
and his troops raided the area. Glyndŵr himself may have died around 1416 at Kentchurch
, within Archenfield, an area which he considered to be part of Wales.
Uncertainty over the border persisted until the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542, often known as "The Acts of Union", tidied up many of the administrative anomalies within Wales and the Marcher borderlands. However no consideration was given at the time to ethnic or linguistic realities, and so various territories were grouped together in a rough and ready manner to form the new shires. Archenfield was thus bundled into Herefordshire, as the Hundred of Wormelow
. However, it remained a predominantly Welsh speaking region until at least the 17th century, and the language was still spoken in the Kentchurch area as late as 1750. The evidence of its Welsh history remains in many placenames and field names.
Many of the rights and customs of the people of Archenfield were maintained until comparatively recently. Men born in Archenfield had the right to take salmon from the River Wye until 1911.
In King's Caple
, the only part of Archenfield east of the Wye, Domesday lists the inhabitants as one Frenchman and five Welshmen. Six local men paid the dues which had been owed at this time, and before, for centuries. Payment was still being made by one of these 'King's Men of Archenfield' in the 1960s.
and Hay-on-Wye
lie within the bounds of the Archenfield region, and areas of or close to both towns today bear the name Archenfield. Additionally, one of Ross-on-Wye's most recognisable symbols; seen on numerous coats-of-arms, is the hedgehog
, known in Middle English
, and locally, as an "urchin" and, in heraldry
the word urcheon is used to refer to the hedgehog. Thus the heraldic use can be seen as a partial rebus
(or visual pun) on Archenfield. A hedgehog is the family crest of John Kyrle
, the "Man of Ross".
It has been speculated that the names "Archenfield" and "Ergyng" may ultimately derive from the Latin
word for hedgehog, hericius, from which "urchin" is also derived.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
name for an area of southern and western Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Since the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
took over the region in the 8th century, it has stretched between the River Monnow
River Monnow
The River Monnow flows through south-west Herefordshire, England and eastern Monmouthshire, Wales.- Border River :For much of its short length it marks the border between England and Wales before it joins the River Wye at Monmouth. The Wye is also half English from Monmouth until it meets the...
and River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...
, but it derives from the once much larger Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
kingdom of Ergyng
Ergyng
Ergyng was a Welsh kingdom of the sub-Roman and early medieval period, between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was later referred to by the English as Archenfield.-Location:...
.
Ergyng
The name Archenfield is derived from the older and larger WelshWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
kingdom of Ergyng (or Ercic), which in turn is believed to derive from the Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
town of Ariconium
Ariconium
Ariconium was a road station of Roman Britain mentioned in Iter XIII of the Iter Britanniarum of the Antonine Itineraries. It was located at Bury Hill in the parish of Weston under Penyard, about east of Ross on Wye, Herefordshire, and about southeast of Hereford. The site existed prior to the...
at Weston under Penyard. After the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain in 410 AD, new smaller political entities took the place of the centralised structure. From about 555 AD, the area was ruled by King Peibio
Peibio Clafrog
Peibo Clafrog , was King of Ergyng in south-east Wales in the 5th or 6th century...
and his descendants until, in the middle of the 7th century, Onbraust of Ergyng married Meurig of Gwent and the two neighbouring kingdoms were combined. The area was converted to Christianity in the 6th century by Saint Dubricius
Dubricius
Saint Dubricius was a 6th century Briton ecclesiastic venerated as a saint. He was the evangelist of Ergyng and much of South-East Wales.-Biography:Dubricius was the illegitimate son of Efrddyl, the daughter of King Peibio Clafrog of Ergyng...
(known in Welsh as Dyfrig). Ergyng eventually became a mere cantref, the Welsh equivalent of a hundred.
English overlordship
By the 8th century, the expanding power of MerciaMercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
led to conflict with the Welsh, and by the beginning of the 9th century the western Mercians, who became known as the sub-kingdom of Magonset, had gained control over the area and nearby Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
. During the rest of the century they moved its frontier southward to the banks of the Dore
Golden Valley, Herefordshire
The Golden Valley is the name given to the valley of the River Dore in western Herefordshire, England. The valley is a picturesque area of gently rolling countryside...
, the Worm Brook
Wormbridge
Wormbridge is a village in Herefordshire, England, about eight miles south-west of Hereford, on the A465 road at . The neighbouring villages are Kilpeck, Didley, Howton, Ewyas Harold, Pontrilas and Crizeley....
and a stream then known as the Taratur, annexing northern Ergyng. The sites of old British churches fell to Mercia, and the British became foreigners - or, in the English language, "Welsh" - in what had been their own land. The rump of Ergyng then became known to the English as Arcenefelde or Archenfield. There is no evidence that Offa
Offa of Mercia
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...
built his famous Dyke
Offa's Dyke
Offa's Dyke is a massive linear earthwork, roughly followed by some of the current border between England and Wales. In places, it is up to wide and high. In the 8th century it formed some kind of delineation between the Anglian kingdom of Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys...
across the area, probably because it had already been assimilated into Mercia by the late 8th century.
In 915, the area faced an incursion from Vikings led by Ohter and Rhoald, coming from the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
. After first capturing Cyfeiliog (Cimeliauc), the Bishop of Llandaff
Bishop of Llandaff
The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.-Area of authority:The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul , in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of...
, they were defeated in battle by the combined forces of Gloucester and Hereford, possibly at "Kill Dane Field" near Weston under Penyard.
In the early 10th century, a document known as The Ordinance Concerning the Dunsaete records procedures for dealing with disputes between the English and the Welsh of Archenfield, who were known to the Saxons as the Dunsaete or "hill people". It stated that the English should only cross into the Welsh side, and vice versa, in the presence of an appointed man who had the responsibility of making sure that the foreigner was safely escorted back to the crossing point.
Archenfield, which lay outside the English hundred system, became a semi-autonomous Welsh district, or commote
Commote
A commote , sometimes spelt in older documents as cymwd, was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix cym- and the noun bod...
(Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
cwmwd), with its own customs. Its administrative centre was at Kilpeck
Kilpeck
Kilpeck is a small village in Herefordshire, England. It is about southwest of Hereford, just south of the A465 road to Abergavenny, and about from the border with Wales....
Castle. Its customs were described in a separate section of the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
account of Herefordshire. Domesday recorded that "King Gruffydd and Bleddyn laid this land waste before 1066; therefore what it was like at that time is not known". It also stated the Welsh of Archenfield were allowed to retain their old rights and privileges in return for forming an advance and rear guard when the King's army entered or left Wales. The local priests were required to "undertake the king's embassies into Wales", presumably providing a translation service. The exemption from services was mentioned again in 1250 and 1326, when it was stated: "The Frenchmen and Welshmen of Urchenesfeld hold their tenements in chief of our lord the King by socage
Socage
Socage was one of the feudal duties and hence land tenure forms in the feudal system. A farmer, for example, held the land in exchange for a clearly defined, fixed payment to be made at specified intervals to his feudal lord, who in turn had his own feudal obligations, to the farmer and to the Crown...
, rendering 19 pounds 7 shillings and 6 pence. And they ought to find 49 foot-soldiers for our lord the King in Wales for 15 days at their own cost."
Later history
The Welsh inhabitants of Archenfield thereafter retained their privileged position, living in a shadowy border land that was not really part of England nor Wales. Around 1404, Owain GlyndŵrOwain Glyndwr
Owain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower , was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welshman to hold the title Prince of Wales...
and his troops raided the area. Glyndŵr himself may have died around 1416 at Kentchurch
Kentchurch
Kentchurch is a small village in Herefordshire, England. It is located some south-west of Hereford and north-east of Abergavenny, beside the River Monnow and adjoining the boundary between England and Wales...
, within Archenfield, an area which he considered to be part of Wales.
Uncertainty over the border persisted until the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542, often known as "The Acts of Union", tidied up many of the administrative anomalies within Wales and the Marcher borderlands. However no consideration was given at the time to ethnic or linguistic realities, and so various territories were grouped together in a rough and ready manner to form the new shires. Archenfield was thus bundled into Herefordshire, as the Hundred of Wormelow
Wormelow Tump
Wormelow Tump is a village in Herefordshire, England, south of Hereford and north west of Ross-on-Wye.The tump itself was a mound which local tradition holds was the burial place of King Arthur's son Amr . The tump was flattened to widen the road in 1896.Wormelow gave its name to a hundred...
. However, it remained a predominantly Welsh speaking region until at least the 17th century, and the language was still spoken in the Kentchurch area as late as 1750. The evidence of its Welsh history remains in many placenames and field names.
Many of the rights and customs of the people of Archenfield were maintained until comparatively recently. Men born in Archenfield had the right to take salmon from the River Wye until 1911.
In King's Caple
King's Caple
King's Caple is a village in the largest loop of the River Wye between Hereford and Ross-on-Wye in the English county of Herefordshire.-Buildings:...
, the only part of Archenfield east of the Wye, Domesday lists the inhabitants as one Frenchman and five Welshmen. Six local men paid the dues which had been owed at this time, and before, for centuries. Payment was still being made by one of these 'King's Men of Archenfield' in the 1960s.
Legacy
The towns of Ross-on-WyeRoss-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye is a small market town with a population of 10,089 in southeastern Herefordshire, England, located on the River Wye, and on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean.-History:...
and Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye , often described as "the town of books", is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains...
lie within the bounds of the Archenfield region, and areas of or close to both towns today bear the name Archenfield. Additionally, one of Ross-on-Wye's most recognisable symbols; seen on numerous coats-of-arms, is the hedgehog
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
, known in Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
, and locally, as an "urchin" and, in heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
the word urcheon is used to refer to the hedgehog. Thus the heraldic use can be seen as a partial rebus
Rebus
A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, for example in its basic form 3 salmon fish to denote the name "Salmon"...
(or visual pun) on Archenfield. A hedgehog is the family crest of John Kyrle
John Kyrle
John Kyrle , known as "the Man of Ross", was an English philanthropist, born in the parish of Dymock, Gloucestershire but best remembered for his time in Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire.- Education & Legal Background :...
, the "Man of Ross".
It has been speculated that the names "Archenfield" and "Ergyng" may ultimately derive from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word for hedgehog, hericius, from which "urchin" is also derived.