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Hidden East Anglia:

Landscape Legends of Norfolk & Suffolk

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EDMUND OF EAST ANGLIA

Part 5 - The Last Mystery: Where Did Edmund Die?

According to History As We Know It, the only fact we have concerning the death of King Edmund is that in 869, the Danes were wintering at Thetford, Edmund fought them, and was slain.

So says the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' in about 890. End of story.

But 95 years later Abbo of Fleury tells us that Edmund was martyred at a township called 'Hægelisdun', with a nearby forest or wood of the same name, which was "at some distance" from the unidentified city that Inguar had burned. Although told at third-hand, this information supposedly comes from an eye-witness, and is generally accepted by scholars.

Where then was 'Hægelisdun'?

Hægelisdun - The Candidates:

Hoxne:

For centuries Hoxne (pronounced 'Hoxon') was the only contender, and the inhabitants still think it so. The identification with the site of Edmund's martyrdom in the Norwich Priory charter of 1101 may have been for ecclesiastical or political purposes, or it may have been confirming an existing local tradition. We may never know. But it's telling that, although a chapel of St. Ethelbert is noted at Hoxne in Bishop Theodred's will of 950, there's no mention at all of Edmund.

Certainly by that date, only 80 years after Edmund's death, Hoxne was considered the 'see' or bishopric for Suffolk, and Theodred had his episcopal seat there. Research has uncovered the fact that there were once actually two medieval chapels dedicated to Edmund at Hoxne. One, at Cross Street, was to commemorate the place of his death, while the other was in a wood less than a mile away, in an area then known as 'Sowood' or 'Sutwode'. Bungalow Farm now stands on the approximate site. In about 1100 that existing chapel of St. Ethelbert was rededicated to Edmund, and in about 1226 a small priory in his honour was established next to the chapel. But while these may be interesting facts, and may point to a tradition of religious importance attaching to the village, they are a long way from proving Hoxne to have been 'Hægelisdun'.

The local tales of the healing spring and the Goldbrook Bridge are medieval or later additions to the mythos. The association of a particular tree at Hoxne with the tale of St. Edmund may be even more recent. When the oak fell in 1848, and people started claiming it to be the very tree to which the king was bound, a local man made it plain to the 'Gentleman's Magazine' that he'd known the area for over 50 years, and no tree in Hoxne had ever been popularly connected with St. Edmund's legend. Indeed, he said at the time that this particular tree was in fact known as Belmore's Oak.

Despite this, the association was confirmed in many minds when John Smythies, a correspondent of the 'Bury Post', visited the fallen tree, and discovered embedded in its wood "a piece of curved iron, possibly an arrowhead". A later writer said that it was actually a flint arrowhead (not very Danish!), while others claimed there were several. In truth there was only one, which for many years after could be seen displayed in the museum at Bury St. Edmunds. However, x-ray examination in more recent times has shown this rusty lump to be either a piece of fence wire, or a bent nail.

What about Abbo's mention of "the neighbouring forest [which] is called by the same name [as 'Hægelisdun']"? Woodland in medieval Suffolk was actually quite sparse, most having been cleared in prehistoric times. But Hoxne Wood, though damaged by replanting, is indeed a remnant of this old forestation.

The main objection to Hoxne being 'Hægelisdun' is the name. Hoxne had already been recorded as 'Hoxne' in the 'Cartularium Saxonicum' in 950 - more than 30 years before Abbo even wrote his 'Passio Sancti Eadmundi'. But Abbo of course was merely passing on a name that originated with Edmund's armour-bearer perhaps 60 years earlier. So could 'Hoxne' have developed from 'Hægelisdun' between 869 and 950?

Although it's unique (and uncertain) in etymological terms, the best estimate for the meaning of 'Hoxne' is a derivation from the O.E. 'hóhsinu' meaning 'heel-sinew', from the resemblance of the land to the hough or hock of a horse (the northern part of the village stands on a spur or ridge above the rivers Dove and Waveney). We can safely ignore the 19th century antiquaries who theorised that 'Hægelisdun' meant 'hill of eagles'.

'Hægel' is a Saxon personal name known from other locations such as Hailsham, Hayling and Hazeleigh, and 'Hægelisdun' quite clearly means the 'dún' or hill of Hægel. Even without the written record, there's no way that 'Hoxne' could be derived from 'Hægelisdun'.

Hellesdon:

Now a north-west suburb of Norwich, Hellesdon (pronounced 'Hellsdun') has long been the favourite of place-name experts and historians for the site of 'Hægelisdun'. It appears in Domesday Book as 'Hailesduna', which is exactly the form one would have expected 'Hægelisdun' to have evolved into. Even in the mythology, by the time of Roger of Wendover in the early 13th century, the site of the martyrdom was being written as 'Hæilesdune'.

But the name is the only thing Hellesdon has going for it. There are no chapels, no legends, no traditions of association with Edmund, and no records of old woodland in the area. About a mile away, further up the valley of the river Wensum, is Bloods Dale at Drayton, where Dane is said to have fought Saxon - but no hint of a connection with the king's last battle or death.

Bradfield St. Clare:

About 5 miles south-east of Bury St. Edmunds is the scattered parish of Bradfield St. Clare. Just south of Pitcher's Green within the parish has been found, on the 1840 Tithe Map, the medieval field name of 'Hellesden Ley', which is the new favourite location of 'Hægelisdun'.

Its position, close to Bury and only about 15 miles from the Danish winter quarters at Thetford, are in its favour, as are several 'Kingshall' place-names a couple of miles to the north at Rougham (where Bury owned a 'Kingshalle' manor before the Conquest). It has also been suggested that the presence of a building called 'Bradfield Hall' within the former Bury Abbey, and that the abbey cellarer paid rent for some small parcels of land in St. Clare, denote a close historical connection. Also, within the parish are several areas of lost or existing medieval woodland, including Bradfield Woods and Monkspark Wood.

But once again, there are no traditional or cultic associations with St. Edmund. And quite frankly, we don't know the origin of the name 'Hellesden'. It could be named after a person or the actual Norfolk village for all we know, or it could be a corruption of something else entirely. If anything, the suffix '-den' counts against it, as it's less likely than Hellesdon in Norfolk to have evolved from Hægelisdun'.

Hollesley:

Situated near the coast of Suffolk south-east of Woodbridge, Hollesley (pronounced 'Hoseley') is nowadays mostly known for being the location of a Young Offenders Institution. The earliest written form of the name is 'Holeslea', probably meaning the wood or clearing of someone named Hól or Hóla - and is clearly not a candidate for 'Hægelisdun'. But because of its position within a few miles of Orford, Rendlesham and Sutton Hoo, that hasn't stopped the locals from claiming it as the place where Edmund met his end.

Some have tried to strengthen the claim for the area by pointing to Domesday Book where is mentioned a small manor called 'Halgestou'. At the time of Domesday it was held by the mother of the founder of Eye priory, Robert Malet, and was later variously known as 'Haleghestowe' and 'Holstow'. Although the exact spot is unknown, W. G. Arnott in 1946 believed that it was on the east side of Shottisham, close to Hollesley. Personally, I wonder if it couldn't be that spot now marked as 'Holy Stile', a meeting of roads and tracks roughly halfway between the two villages. It wouldn't take much for local usage to corrupt 'Holstow' into 'Holy Stile'.

The argument requires that Abbo wrote the name wrongly in the first place, transposing two of the consonants. Thus, instead of 'Hægelisdun', he should have written 'Hæligesdun', which would then (they say) mean 'holy place'. 

But the linguistic twisting doesn't stop there. One researcher wrote "No place-name expert would argue about Hæligesdun being spelled Halgestou, allowing for the lapse of time and change of circumstance (dun or stou both mean place)". Well actually they would, and they don't.

One thing there's no argument about is the existence of ancient woodland in the area, with Staverton Park and the Thicks just to the north, near Butley.

While no one seriously considers either Southwold or Old Newton as the site of 'Hægelisdun', the latter does at least hold another snippet of relevant information that will crop up again shortly.

~ ~ 

But there's a second facet to this investigation, introduced by Hermann of Bury just after 1095. While 'Hægelisdun' is, according to Abbo, where Edmund died, Hermann (probably a mistake for an archdeacon named Bertrann) tells us that Edmund was first buried "in a little village named 'Suthtuna', close to the scene of his martyrdom..."

Suthtuna:

The tales in Hermann's 'Liber de Miraculis Sancti Eadmundi' come partly from "an old book" and partly from "the tradition of our elders". Hermann would certainly have known of Abbo's 'Passio Sancti Eadmundi', but doesn't mention 'Hægelisdun' at all. The conclusion nevertheless is that the two places were quite close together.

'Suthtuna' comes from O.E. 'Súþ-tún', meaning southern homestead or village, and has resulted in the very common English place-name 'Sutton'. But in East Anglia, this has survived in only one village-name in Norfolk, and one in Suffolk. The Norfolk instance is an out-of-the-way little hamlet next to Stalham in the Broads, and can almost certainly be discounted. 

At 34 miles as the crow flies from the Danish winter quarters at Thetford, this seems an unlikely place for Edmund to have been buried. And despite the Saxon connections, the absence of a convincing 'Hægelisdun' still leaves this an improbable location for the action of the legend. (However, there is still one more piece of evidence that will bring us back here later on).

So far we've considered possible locations for Edmund's martyrdom and burial - but what about the site of his final battle with the Danes? Historically, we have absolutely nothing to go on.

Consider the words of the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' for 869 AD: "In this year the army rode over Mercia into East Anglia, and there fixed their winter-quarters at Thetford. And that winter King Edmund fought with them; but the Danes gained the victory, and slew the king, and conquered all that land".

It's unlikely that Edmund would have launched an attack directly at the Danes entrenched behind the Iron Age and Saxon defences at Thetford itself. Some have suggested that the king attacked them before they even reached Thetford, but to my mind that sequence of events cannot be gained from the 'Chronicle'.

The most enduring local legend is that at Rushford,  where the final conflict allegedly took place on the slopes of Snarehill just outside Thetford, to the south-east. It's possible that Edmund somehow drew the Danish forces out from behind their defences to this range of low hills - but the tale probably came about because of the existence of many burial mounds spread along the ridge which are, however, bell barrows of the Bronze Age.

Whether he fought them one or several times, any of the battles, including the last, could have been many miles from Thetford. And that brings us back to the question of 'Dernford', mentioned in Parts 2 and 4.

Dernford:

Whether it was actually 'Dernford' or 'Bernford', the core of the tradition was that it was a river or stream crossing known to Edmund, but not his enemies. While the 15th century source says that he used 'Dernford' to escape after being defeated in battle, Gillingwater in 1790 says that Edmund used the 'hidden' ford at Barnby to fall upon the Danes and rout them.  

As localised versions tend to give a more positive spin to legendary events, especially where they concern a 'heroic' figure, it's more likely that the earlier source is correct. And as the only battle we actually know about when Edmund was defeated was his last one, the conclusion - if we accept the medieval 'Dernford' tale at all - has to be that his final encounter took place at an unknown location, he escaped the field via 'Dernford' to his seat of 'Hægelisdun' where he was caught and slain, then buried at nearby 'Suthtuna'.

As we can probably eliminate the whole Barnby/Bernford debacle as a bit of 'antiquarian inexactitude', where then was 'Dernford'? And is there any area of East Anglia that could fulfill all the legendary and historical requirements?

This conjecture requires that the Danes killed Edmund before they ever reached Thetford - but as I've already said, I really don't think that argument can be sustained by the evidence from the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'. However,  the main line of reasoning seems to have been that this was the only Dernford that could be located in East Anglia, therefore it must be the one.

But in fact, I've found that there were at least three more, and far closer to the accepted orbit of Edmund than Cambridge.

Although slightly removed from the Sutton/Rendlesham area, this was still part of the stomping-ground of the Wuffingas, and only a mile south at Nacton are the Seven Hills, where the dead of a Dane v. Saxon battle are said to be buried (albeit from a later conflict).

Eight miles further up the valley of the Gipping is Old Newton, where the Danes fought the Saxons at Stonebridge, and a local story says Edmund was slain in a field known as 'The Pits'. Very close by at Stowupland is Columbine Hall, which the Danes are said to have attacked. Again not far away is Danecroft in Stowmarket, where the Danes encamped while fighting with Edmund, and from which they launched an attack against the Saxons at Haughley in 869, the year of Edmund's death. Right next to Old Newton is the remnant of medieval woodland in Gipping Great Wood.

Also of interest here is a passage that I found in Allan Jobson's 1971 book 'Suffolk Villages'. Speaking of Columbine Hall, the moated enclosure of which was popularly "thought to date from Danish times", he tells of an 'old illustration' found there, showing "the head of St. Edmund, set on a rayed background". Upon this illustration was an inscription, which read: "Head of St. Edmund. Formerly in the Abbey, Bury St. Edmunds. Beheaded by the Danish invaders Juga and Hubla at Eyberdun, now Hoxne in 870 A.D. at a great battle below Columbyne Hall in the valley of the Gipping".

I don't know the age or provenance of this illustration, nor whether it still exists - but it's certainly very odd. The implication seems to be that 'Eyberdun' is some weird transliteration of 'Hægelisdun', though how it reached that stage, I can't imagine. 

~ ~ 

I'm sure it can have no relevance, but I'm reminded of a field that exists on the eastern edge of Bury St. Edmunds, now the home of Bury Rugby Club. This field is called the 'Haberdon' or 'Haberden'. In the Middle Ages, the tenant of this field was obliged to house in it a white bull, in readiness for its use in a curious rite known as the 'Oblation of the White Bull'. Possibly a remnant of earlier fertility rites, a woman who wished to have a child would walk with the bull as part of a procession to the west and south gates of the abbey. Then the bull would be led back to the field and the woman would go on to pray at St. Edmund's shrine. I have no idea what connection, if any, there might be between 'Eyberdun' and the 'Haberdon'.

~ ~ 

When the inscription says that Edmund was beheaded at Hoxne, "at a great battle...", I'm pretty sure that's an error for "after a great battle..." otherwise it makes no sense. Hoxne is nowhere near the Gipping valley. Darnford at Great Blakenham, however, is in the valley, about 7½ miles below Columbine Hall. I'm not suggesting it seriously, but it's tempting to speculate that Edmund fought his last battle with the Danes near Darnford, and was then pursued or taken a little north to the Old Newton/Stowupland area, and there slain at some as-yet-undiscovered 'Hægelisdun'.

If I were to enter the realms of total conjecture, I might point to the nearby village of Haughley where, as already mentioned, the Saxons were traditionally besieged by the Danes in 869. Although the motte and bailey castle here (destroyed in 1173) was built in about 1100, the rectangular bailey earthwork - as always - is popularly believed to be much more ancient. The earliest recorded form of this place-name, dating to 1040, was 'Hagele'.

It's a bit uncertain, but the name seems to have meant 'haw wood', i.e. a wood where the fruit of the hawthorn was found. Continuing the conjecture, is it stretching things too far to think that this high ground above a tributary of the Gipping might once have been known as 'Hageleas-dún' - the hill of the haw woods?

Well yes, I'm sure it is. I'm just playing with words. Besides, there's no sign of a 'Sutton' anywhere in the area. 

((Actually, if I was being mischievous, I would point to the next parish south, Harleston, as another possible contender for 'Hægelisdun'. Certainly sounds like it could have developed from 'Hailesduna', doesn't it? Unfortunately it couldn't - not even remotely. In fact, it's surprising that 18th and 19th century antiquaries didn't latch onto another Harleston as a possibility, as this one's only 5 miles from Hoxne, on the Norfolk side of the river Waveney. But the early forms of both Harlestons show that they have the same derivation: 'Heroluestuna' - the homestead of Herewulf. No 'Hægelisdun' here)).

The Mystery Remains:

So, there are several clusters of possibility, but no definitive answer. To summarise:

HOXNE:

900 years of tradition and religious association, plus medieval woodland, but no 'Dernford'' within many miles, no 'Hægelisdun', and only a possible 'Sutton'.

HELLESDON:

A convincing 'Hægelisdun', but that's all.

BRADFIELD ST. CLARE:

A definite 'Sutton', a possible 'Hægelisdun', a couple of other suggestive place-names and medieval woodland, but no 'Dernford'' for miles or any traditional associations.

HOLLESLEY area:

Here are a positive 'Dernford'' and 'Sutton', and the remains of ancient woodland, but a highly dubious 'Hægelisdun', an association with Saxon kings that is too early, an unlikely location, and a weak (and probably recent) tradition of Edmund.

SAWSTON:

A definite 'Dernford', but no 'Hægelisdun', a distant 'Sutton', a very unlikely location, and no folk-memory of Edmund.

OLD NEWTON area:

An Edmund legend and other relevant traditions, medieval woodland, a 'Dernford' not far away, but no 'Hægelisdun' or 'Sutton'.

~ ~ 

If 'Dernford' is ignored as a later addition, I suspect that, among historians, Bradfield St. Clare and perhaps Hellesdon will continue to be the favoured locations for the events of St. Edmund's death and burial. I doubt however that anything will shake the belief of Hoxne residents that their village is the one true site.

Maybe someday, someone trawling through medieval manuscripts or charters, wills or maps, will come across another 'Hægelisdun', with a 'Suthtuna' nearby, and maybe even a 'Dernford' not far away, and make the connection.

But there would still be the question of tradition. Such a series of events would have left an indelible mark of legend on the landscape. If not Hoxne, Hollesley, or Old Newton, then where?

The mystery of Edmund - king, martyr, and saint of East Anglia - remains.