Gyrwas was the name of an Anglo-Saxon population of the Fens

The Fens

The Fens, also known as the , are a naturally marshy region in eastern England. Most of the fens were drained several centuries ago, resulting in a flat, damp, low-lying agricultural region....

, divided into northern and southern groups and recorded in the Tribal Hidage

Tribal Hidage

Image:Tribal Hidage 2.svg|thumb|400px|alt=insert description of map here|The tribes of the Tribal Hidage. Where an appropriate article exists, it can be found by clicking on the name.rect 275 75 375 100 Elmetrect 375 100 450 150 Hatfield Chase...

; related to the name of Jarrow.

Hugh Candidus

Hugh Candidus

Hugh Candidus was a monk of the Benedictine monastery at Peterborough, who wrote a Medieval Latin account of its history, from its foundation as Medeshamstede in the mid 7th century up to the mid 12th century.-Life:...

, a 12th century chronicler of Peterborough Abbey

Peterborough Cathedral

Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...

, describes its foundation in the territory of the Gyrwas, under the name of Medeshamstede

Medeshamstede

Medeshamstede was the name of Peterborough in the Anglo-Saxon period. It was the site of a monastery founded around the middle of the 7th century, which was an important feature in the kingdom of Mercia from the outset. Little is known of its founder and first abbot, Sexwulf, though he was himself...

. Medeshamstede was clearly in the territory of the North Gyrwas. Hugh Candidus explains Gyrwas, which he uses in the present tense

Present tense

The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...

, as meaning people "who dwell in the fen, or hard by the fen, since a deep bog is called in the Saxon tongue Gyr". The territory of the South Gyrwas included Ely

Ely, Cambridgeshire

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...

. Æthelthryth

Æthelthryth

Æthelthryth is the proper name for the popular Anglo-Saxon saint often known, particularly in a religious context, as Etheldreda or by the pet form of Audrey...

 founded Ely monastery after the death of her husband Tondberht, who is described in Bede

Bede

Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...

's Ecclesiastical History

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum

The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...

as a "prince of the South Gyrwas". Bede also described Bishop Thomas

Thomas (bishop)

Thomas was a medieval Bishop of the East Angles.He was consecrated between 647 and 648. He died between 652 and 653. He was bishop for five years.-See also:*Bishop of Dunwich*Bishop of Elmham*Bishop of Thetford*Bishop of Norwich-External links:*...

 of Dunwich

Bishop of Dunwich

The Bishop of Dunwich is an episcopal title which was first used by an Anglo-Saxon bishop between the 7th and 9th centuries and is currently used by a suffragan bishop who assists a diocesan bishop. The title takes its name after Dunwich in the English county of Suffolk, which has now largely been...

, in East Anglia, as having been "from the province of the Gyrwas", and deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 to his predecessor Felix

Felix of Burgundy

Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich , was a saint and the first bishop of the East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom of East Anglia...

.