Elmet Pre-History

The Pre-History of the Elmet Area.

An Idiot's Guide To:- Just who were / are the ‘Britons’?

( Not a guide FOR idiots so much as a guide written BY one ! )

Firstly let us take into account the island/s off the mainland of Europe that is/are now called Great Britain. This is the stage that this story will mostly be played upon.

We have to go back in time to around 2000 BC.

In what is today ‘Central Europe’ a grouping of peoples were building into a culture that is now known as Celtic. It is a loose term but is useful for this narratives intent.

Little is recorded of these people despite their great historical impact upon Europe due to the fact that they themselves did not use a written language, or at least none that is recognisable as theirs today.

Their culture and their ideas spread in all directions. Whether that was by trade, by education, by invasion or by any mixture of those we know not. But spread it certainly did. Indications are that some Celtic influences were felt as far as the lands to the north of the Himalayas. Halfway down the peninsular that is now Italy, through to Spain, and, not before time, to the British Isles.

Celtic stories tell that when they reached Britain they found ‘Giants’ living there. Indeed 2000 years later it still went by the title of The Island of the Mighty’. What can we make from this? The word ‘giant’, especially translated from Celtic, can mean the romantic over-sized human or ‘great’ people, as in powerful / wise.

Certainly the beliefs of the Celts seem to have been modified thereon. Celtic beliefs mirrored the shamanistic traits of their time. They seem to have had one firm centre to their teachings and this was the respect of the Land. That is to say ‘Nature’. Certainly this fits in with their total dependence upon the weather, the soil, the streams and rivers and thus their harvest. Hunting game goes right in there too. It was all about survival. Respect and revere that which sustains you.

The Native American medicine man is a very close simile. Shamans, those who wanted to earn a good living from the trade, would ‘speak’ with the powers of the land to ensure good hunting and good harvests. Dressing the part of a deer or a wolf they would take themselves into a trance, however induced, and speak to those powers on behalf of the humans.

Dark Age Christian perceptions of this put such pictures to their followers as being obviously evil. Thus Cernuous (spelling obligatory) the early Celtic ’saint’ of shaman hunters was described not as a man dressed as a deer but as a horned god with cleft feet. Devilishly clever of them!

But after the Celts met whoever it was they came upon in the British Isles their teachings totally changed. This shamanistic tide hit the shores of Britain and then bounced back. The further it travelled the more ’watered down’ it became but Europe was now learning about Druids.

Today’s image of Druids again owes much to Christian preachings, never ones to praise anything or anyone who may be in competition for worshippers. The evil wizard and Devil’s children script went into immediate print. But who were they?

Well the term ‘druid’ is not of a priest per se. They may well have watched over events which the Christian Church condemned. The same events which the Christian church then adopted and slightly adapted to suit themselves. But they were really, as their title translates, the Wise Ones.

Are we perhaps seeing the origins of ‘Giants’ in this title? The nearest organisations we have today to that which the Druids were involved in are those of education.

An overseeing body guided twelve different schools of learning to make up the Druid ‘university’. History, law, astronomy, communication etc etc. all had their own students and teachers. That may be why Christians were persuaded that 13 was an evil and unlucky number. Bangors, great meetings and discussions, were held and there are a couple of towns still carrying that title. These were not to be praised by the following Roman Catholic Christian church, but the earlier, original, Celtic Christian church held Druids in great respect. Perhaps for just the reason that they were educated and knowledgeable people. Another problem for the Roman Church was that Druidism recognised women as equal to men. That was against the rules in Rome.

The differences between the earlier Celtic Church and the Roman Church were not too great but power is everything and it seems the Roman Church wanted it all. The Druid allies of the Celtic Church, and they do seem to have worked together very well, could help bring down the smaller Celtic Church in its heartland of Britain.

Not an easy task when so much of Christian gospel has such a Druidic theme. Rome screamed that Druids were magicians. Yet tells that three Magi, three Wise Men, came to visit at his birth. Rome said there is only one God, That fits in with Druidic teachings of respecting Nature, but then they add the Son and the Holy Ghost. At least that wasn’t Druidic. Rome wanted an end to the mass respect of smaller ‘gods’. The Druids didn’t have them but did show respect for Nature’s gifts - rivers, wells, streams etc. Rome said that was worshipping gods. They then gave each of these places to another minor god of their own but just called them ‘saints’. The teachings of Druidism were made up of one prime body and twelve schools. Jesus had twelve disciples. Not least the Druidic teaching had the Land as female.

Whoever these Druids were, even as late as the fifth century, they certainly carried enough power in their teaching to make the whole of the Roman Church take great notice.

So here we seem to have a people upon an island with some form of knowledge that was adopted by the incoming shamanistic Celts and then retransmitted back along their lines of advance. This mixture of ‘Giants’ and Celts are that which we now know as the ‘Britons’.

The language they spoke was a Brythonic Celtic and its spread within the island covers from the Clyde and the Forth in the north through the rest of mainland Britain. Over the thousand years before the time of Christ they developed their own regional governments and these are recorded as tribal names.

Then during the first century AD in came the Romans. Over three hundred years of Roman rule, though often heartily challenged throughout the period, they held sway. It would seem that Roman influence was taken on board in a big way by the British and it enjoyed general popularity. The later of the challenges noted above were not so much a challenge to Roman rule itself so much as a test of who could run the system best. Politics hasn’t changed much over the centuries.

Christianity flourished in Britain during the Roman period. It’s roots do not seem to have differed greatly from those of Druidism and the two existed happily alongside each other. Their beliefs in one ‘God’, feasts that magically coincided and the adoption of local sites by the Christian Church as being worthy of veneration did little to separate them. Even the ‘tonsure’ of Celtic Christian monks matched those of the Druids and were bluntly termed ‘Druidic tonsures’. This situation would last happily until the Roman Catholic Church reached into Britain in a corporate take-over through the 5^th to 7^th centuries.

Towards the end of the fourth century there was a wider dispute of power. The region of Britain was controlled by Magnus Maximus and this leader had great ideas about being emperor of Rome.

© John Davey 2002 All Rights Reserved

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Then we have another version of things from the works of Geoffrey of Monmouth that goes something along these lines....taken in part from the Brut y breninoedd - the Chronicle of the Kings.

(Please note that the dates given here are in no way to be relied upon and are only included to assist the reader in the relative time scale of events.)

After the destruction of Troy by the Greeks one of their leaders headed west with his band of followers and found themselves in Italy upon the banks of the Tiber near to the future site of Rome. His name was Anchises and he was accompanied by his son Aeneas. The local ruler was a man called Latinus and he welcomed the new arrivals. In return for his kindness Aeneas defeated the ruler arch enemy Turnus, King of the Rutuli, and was given the hand of Latinus' daughter Lavinia. The couple had a son they named Aeneas Silvius and he grew up to be king of all the tribes of Italy.

What happened to him is not mentioned but his brother Ascanius had a son known as Silvius and this young lad seduced the niece of his grandmother Lavinia. This anonymous girl died during the birth of a son who was named Brutus.

A prophecy foretold that he would be to blame for the deaths of both his parents and Brutus seems to have lacked any luck for at age 15 years he seemingly killed his father with a bow and arrow in a hunting accident. This caused him to be exiled from Italy, forfeiting his right to the throne.

Here begins the history of the people of Brutus, the 'Britons'. Brutus headed out of Italy and made his way to Greece. There he met with slaves who were descendants of those captured by Priam, Achilles' son, when Troy fell. They were now serving Pandrasus, King of the Dorian Greeks. The slaves heard Brutus' story and accepted him as their leader. Under his command they rose against the Greeks and defeated Pandrasus, fleeing Greece in a commandeered fleet.

Heading west they searched for a new land to settle. Sailing out of the Mediterranean through the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar Straits) they met another group of similar Trojan escapees under Corineus. They joined forces and landed in Gaul. Brutus was declared their king. Beating the local Pictish ruler Goffar (Koffarffichti) seems to have secured the region but they set sail again and landed near present day Totnes in Devon. This is said to be around the 12th century BC in modern terms. Brutus adopted the local people and founded New Troy (London) the land and people thereafter being named after him . He ruled the Britons for 23 years from around 1149 to 1125 BC. Now he wedded Ignoge, the daughter of Pandrasus, captured in Greece, and she had three sons, Kamber, Locrinus and Albanactus.

Upon his death Albanactus was given Albany, most of modern day Scotland. Kamber took Cambria (Wales and parts of northern England/southern Scotland ) and Locrinus held Loegria, the main section of present day central-southern England excluding Cornwall.

Cornwall was a separate mini-kingdom ruled by Corineus and his daughter Gwendolen was married to Locrinus. Locrinus was a bigamist though and had a second wife named Estrildis whom hid hid from Corineus for fear of his life. This continued until the death of Corineus when Locrinus openly crowned his second wife as his queen and threw Gwendolen out. In anger she raised an army in Cornwall and killed Locrinus in battle, then had Estrildis drowned along with their daughter Habren.

She went on to rule both kingdoms for 15 years until around 1090BC when she stood aside in favour of her son Maddan. He ruled Loegria for 40 years until around 1065BC but after his death his two sons fought over the kingdom. The elder, Mempricius murdered the younger, Main, and took the land. He appears to have been a right royal tyrant and abandoned his wife in favour of strange vices!

After 20 years of his kingship he was seperated from a hunting party and was killed by wolves. Or so the hunting party stated.

The crown went to Ebraucus (Efrawc) and he sat on the throne for 39 years (ca 1045-1005BC). His write up is positive, with a grand sacking of Gaul to his credit and he found the city of KaerEfrawc (Present day York). After him we have Brytys Daryan Las (Brutus GreenShield) for 11 years, and then Leil who founded KaerLeil (Carlisle) but had little else going for him and his 25 years ended in in a civil war. His son was much better and Hudibras (ca968- 929BC) rebuilt the kingdom and founded Kaereint (Canterbury), Kaerguenit (Winchester) and Paladur (Shaftsbury). His son took over around 929BC and King Bladud founded Kaerbadum (Bath). He seemed intent on pushing the realm of magic for he supported many dark practices and seemingly died while trying to fly.

Next we have his son Leir who ruled for three decades from 909BC until ca 855BC founding KaerLeir (Leicester) . There was a three year hitch somewhere around 855-852BC when the kingdom was in the hands of joint rulers Maglaunus of Albany and Henwinus of Cornwall. His three daughters did not fare so well. Shakespeare dramatised the tale in his King Lear. The Monmouth version of the old annals say that the throne went to the youngest, Cordelia but held it only five years before being imprisoned by her sisters where she killed herself. This led to a takeover by Marganus (son of Maglaurus of Albany) who took up the rule of the North above the Humber, with a cousin of his, Kynedda ( Cunadag - son of Henwinus of Cornwall) ruling the land to the south. They soon fell to fighting and Marganus was killed by Kynedda in Cambia. The place is still called Margam in his memory.

Loegria was reunited under Kynedda from 844-811BC. Thus followed the rule of Rriallon (Rival), a good king. but beset by a 'rain of blood', a 'swarm of flies' and a plague that devastated the population. Reigned 811-765BC.

Following Kynedda there is a blur that lasts for two centuries. Three names are listed with a hint of an unnamed fourth king. We have no mention of information by Monmouth at all on Gurgastius, Sisillius and Kimarcus or the possible fourth monarch. Possibly Gurgust 765-681, Sisillius (Silvius) 681-632, Jago 632-604 and Kimmacus 604-550BC ?

Gwrvyw (Gorboduc) inherited the kingdom around 550BC but by 487BC he had long been senile and his two sons were at each others throats. His queen, Judon, favoured Ferrex and upon hearing that brother Porrex had killed him had Porrex tied in a sack and thrown in to the Thames to drown. So in 482BC ended the line of Brutus as rulers of Loegria.

Civil war followed.

Pinor is listed as King of Loegria, Rudaucus King of Cambria and Staterius King of Albany all from 482-434BC. The three battled it out to be ruler for 48 years.

In this period the King of Cornwall was Cloten. His son Dunvallo Molmutius succeeded him as King and defeated the three rivals to take the crown as King of the Britons. He ruled from 434 to 394BC. He was followed by his two sons Belinus and Brennus who ruled jointly until Brennus' death in 389BC (in battle with his brother) with the surviving brother remaining in power until 372BC.

It looks likely that Brennus (Brennius) was Lord of Northumbri and Albany and is claimed to have led the Celtic sack of Rome in his final year.

Belinus was an acclaimed road builder and Billingsgate in London bears his name. Monmouth says he defeated the King of Denmark and was paid heavy tribute by him for friendship.

Following Belinus' death his son Gurguit Barbtruc takes the throne 372-353BC. His hallmarks were peace and justice. But in his reign Denmark stopped paying the tribute and he invaded the land to secure his position. He was said to be buried in Caerleon on Usk and his son became king. Guithelin (Kyhylyn) ruled until ca327BC and married Marcia. Under his rule laws were encoded and he was seen as a good leader. When he died his wife took over control as their son was too young and he succeeded her around 322BC upon her death. Sisillius (Saessyllt) ruled for ten years and was followed by sons Kimarus 312-309BC and Danius (Elarrius) 309-299BC. The throne then went to the great nephew of Sisillius, Morvidus (Morindus / Morydd) . This man was reputed to be a brave but vicious warrior and he was feared for his treatment of prisoners defeated in battle. Against all Celtic codes he personally slaughtered prisoners and when too tired to continue ordered the remainder skinned alive and then burned. Tales tell that that a monster rose in the west and he rode out to seek it. The creature 'Belua' slew him and ate him. Perhaps reference to a backlash from his many enemies.

In ca290BC the crown passed to Gorbonianus (Gorboman / Gwrviniaw) and the land enjoyed ten years under a good ruler but he was succeeded by his brother Archgallo (Arthal) who was such a tyrant as to be deposed by his people and replaced with his younger brother Elidurus (Elidyr) the Dutiful. He was so called because he offered the kingdom back to his elder - now reformed - brother. His two younger brothers (obviously a prolific father !) were having none of it and split the kingdom into its usual north-south divide, putting Elidurus in a safely locked tower. Ingenius (great name!!) ruled the south while Peredurus controlled the North 265-258BC. After Ingenius died Peredurus ruled the whole kingdom for two years and had a good reputation. When he died Elidurus regained the throne until his death ca 252BC.

The next rulers were ap Gorborianus (another son !?!) 252-242BC, Morganus II 242-228BC, Enriaurius 228-221BC, Ydwallo 221-201BC, Runo 201-185BC, Geruntius 185-165BC, Catellus 165-155BC, Coilus 155-145BC, Porrex II 145-140BC, Cherin 140-139BC, Fulgenius 139-138BC, Edadus (Eldred) 138-137BC, Androgeus 137-136BC, Urianus 136-133BC.

These dates seem very regular, more likely to being rulers with consent. As if the kingdom was now more a federation of tribes with a nominal head of state.

They are followed by Eliud 133-128BC, Cledaucus (Dedantius) 128-123BC, Clotenus 123-121BC, Gurgintius 121-118BC, Merianus 118-116BC, Bledudo 116-114BC, Capenus 114-111BC, Oenus 111-109BC, Sisillius III 109-107BC. Belsgabred (Bledgabedrus) 107-97BC, Archmail (Archimalus) 97-95BC, Eldol 95-91BC, Redon (Rodianus) 91-89BC, Redechius 89-86BC, Samulus 86-84BC, Penessil 84-79BC, Phyrrus 81-79BC.

Caporius 79-77, Dinellus 77-73, Beli Mawr 73-72, Lud (Lludd)72-61BC.

Now the real problems start. Who was Beli Mawr? Why pick on him? Because he seems to be such a powerful figure to Romanised Britons. Beli Mawr a.k.a Heli, a.k.a Belenos, a.k.a. Bran the Blessed, a.k.a. the God of the Sun (from which we have Beltane). Was he a real person? If not then what do we make of the rest of the list? His name (title?) means 'shining' and 'great' (as in large).

His legend never ends...he was seemingly married to Anna, a cousin of the Virgin Mary. He was the the founder of the line of the Gwyr y Gogledd - Men of the North. He is said to be brother to Cunobelinus (Cymbeline) who lived some 50-60 years later but whose name means 'Hound of Beli'.

It looks as if a real King Arthur thinks he has problems with fables then Beli Mawr has him beat hands down. His birth and death dates vary wildly and he was king from 2 years to 40 years which sometimes make him king at the age of 2 years!

Whatever the answers it seems that well before he or his son were born The Island of the Mighty was split into tribal / clan regions and ruled over by nothing similar to an overall monarch.

And we think the Dark Ages shed little light.

(Repeat - Please note that the dates given here are in no way to be relied upon and are only included to assist the reader in the relative time scale of events.)

Hook Moor Pre-Roman British Village.

History Repeats Itself.

Straight through the centre of our Elmet region the Roman Ridge Road runs from Castleford to Aberford on its way to York and beyond. That later mediaeval artery, The Great North Road, runs from Ferrybridge to Aberford. They join together at Hook Moor about a mile south of that village. Three years ago the new A1-M1 link road was under construction and its route passed it straight across Hook Moor, about half a mile south of the ancient junction.

The area of Hook Moor south of that earlier junction rises to a plateau, a very suitable site for a village in days long past. Sure enough that is exactly what the motorway construction workers discovered; a pre-Roman Celtic village of some fair size, one of the greater finds of this century. Drainage and storage areas were carved into the very bedrock of the moorland. Little can be told of the Celtic Brigantii people who lived in that ancient site, and, sadly, a great percentage of it is now all of twenty feet above the speeding lanes of the M1 motorway.

That is how we get our title above this article. For that imperial road way, Roman Ridge Road, also passed straight through that already-existing British village, its course took it straight through the centre of one of those very buildings.Doubtless to the annoyance of the tenant. History did indeed repeat itself - some 1900-plus years apart..

Just lately the new Normanton by-pass was host to an investigation to a site found alongside when new housing construction brought a very old construction to light. It is possible that the site had been in use from 500BC to 100AD. No remains of actual occupation were found which would tend to indicate that this was some kind of religious construction which had been rebuilt many times over its 600 year lifespan. Evidence suggests that it was an enclosure with ditches around it and a possible bridge over the ditch with a causeway approaching it. Work will continue on the surrounding area in the next year (2001)

North from Castleford along the old Roman road it makes it's way, after around five miles or so on to Hook Moor - just south of Aberford. Over the centuries this must have been one of the busiest sections of our Elmet area. When the new M1 motorway extension was in it's early days of being constructed (1998) where it cuts through Hook Moor there was discovered a large pre-Roman village/town - presumably of the local Brigantii Britons. History having a way of repeating itself, it is ironic to note that one large dwelling, marked clearly in the bedrock, had the Roman road cut right through the centre of it.

A case of 1998AD repeating 72AD.

A great section of this town is now several feet above the motorway and the rest has returned to agriculture.

Archaeological Investigation Works close to Ferrybridge Henge

Archaeological Services WYAS completed their advanced Archaeological Investigation Works close to Ferrybridge Henge in October 2002, where they have excavated a number of Iron Age and Roman Period ditched enclosures as well as early prehistoric features (see photograph showing the extent of the excavations). The contractor is now working on the reporting stage of the contract, including the production of a popular publication, for completion in May 2004.

Latest news from the Ferrybridge area (03-12-2003) announces the find of a 500BC chariot burial with the skeleton of a presumed local leader. The man was around 6 feet 6 inches tall and aged around forty years. With him, as well as the chariot, were 250 sacrificed cattle. (See below)

Update on above find (28-11-2004): it seems that the body found was that of a male over 6 feet tall and likely from the north of Britain (north of today's Scotland). The burial is now reckoned as 1st century BC. The cattle finds seem to be from the later Roman period and are not linked to the burial. The chariot design is unlike any other found to-date in Britain and resembles those of the same period found on the continent. Artifacts from the burial site are still under investigation as of this date. A great number of even earlier burials have been found in the area dating to the beaker people and include one of a woman buried with her dog.

To the north of the Elmet region lies an enormous and most important site with three henges which date back to 3000-3500 BC. This is at Thornborough, just to the east of Masham and near the River Ure. This site is as important to bronze age Britain as Stonehenge. It gives a hint of just how organised the peoples of this northern area were 5000 years ago.

The Yorkshire Post dated Thursday October 6th 2005 reports "Walker discovers 5,000-year-old log path on moor"

Hatfield Moors lay a couple of miles due East of Doncaster in South Yorkshire and was re-opened to walkers last year. Local walking enthusiast Mick Oliver found a straight line of logs while crossing the moor and reported the oddity to Doncaster Museum. He was surprised to learn he had discovered one of the oldest tracks of this kind ever found in the world. The design is known as a 'corduroy track'.

Neolithic pathways of this type are 5000 years old and only two earlier examples are known, one in Germany and the other in Holland. Many archaeologists are working on the find to reveal all and any clues that the structure can give us to the life of Neolithic Mankind. One thought is that it was an attempt to stave off climate changes back in that period by allowing continued use of the route as it became more and more boggy. Radio carbon dating is quoted by the newspaper as giving a date between 2900 and 2500BC, predating Stonehenge.

The remains cover some 50 mtrs and are up to 4mtrs wide and end at a platform.

Always a list of awkward questions, answers on a postcard please :- How large was the population at any given time? How much did 'they' know that we have not yet rediscovered? What level of international communication was available? What did the Celtic Brigantii make of the many standing stones left by earlier group/s? And many more.............

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