Monument record MWX156 - Brydian, a Saxon burh

The Saxon burh of Brydian has been identified as being either at Little or Long Bredy or at Bridport. The earthwork enclosure at Old Warren, Little Bredy has been suggested as a possible site. Also a possible Saxon circuit has been proposed in the centre of Bridport. There is not enough evidence available at present to confidently identify one or other as the more likely location of Brydian.

The Burghal Hidage lists Brydian (or Bredy) to which belonged 760 hides (ie a wall length of 3,315 feet) <1>. The hillfort of Old Warren in Little Bredy parish has been identified as the site of Brydian, in which Bridport was the `port belonging to Bredy' <2>. Alternatively, Bridport was Brydian Burh. Field work and documentary evidence indicate the existence of a town ditch enclosing the Saxon town by cutting off the peninsula. <3>

The precise location of the burh of Brydian has not been located. Maitland suggested that it was at Little or Long Bredy. The Royal Commission have suggested the earthwork enclosure at Old Warren, Little Bredy as the site of the burh of Brydian <2>. Unfortunately there has been no fieldwork done at Old Warren to confirm or deny this hypothesis. Subsequently, Bridport has been suggested as a more likely location. <3>

The place-name evidence suggests that Brydian means 'place at the (River) Bride' and Bridport means 'market-town belonging to Bredy', 'market-town associated with Bredy' or 'market-town called Bredy', which does not clarify the matter.

There has been some documentary and topographic research undertaken, which has tried to locate the burh within Bridport <3> <4>. Unfortunately the archaeological investigations along the postulated line of the defences have not produced any evidence for Saxon activity <6-8>. No Saxon material has been found anywhere within the town, so the identification of Brydian with Bridport must still be considered speculative.

It is possible that the initial foundation of the burh was at a defensible location, such as Old Warren, with a later move down to a strategically and commercially more important site. Certainly there was a well-established borough at Bridport by the late Saxon period. <3>

Discussion of the Medieval town defences with reference to documents of the C13th. <4>

An excavation on the suggested line of the wall found no occupation traces at all and no ditch. (At SY 4651 9256) <5>

Penn believes that the evidence for Bridport being the burh is strong, since it is the lowest bridging point on the River Brit, and the topography of the town lends itself to such an origin. He suggests that at least the East side was defended where the ground slopes to the Asker. <4>

<1> Hill, D, 1996, The development of Burghal Hidage Studies: A Bibliographical Review. (Monograph). SDO10564.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 38 (Monograph). SDO97.

<3> Penn, K J, 1980, Historic Towns in Dorset, 23-29 illust. (Monograph). SWX1202.

<4> Short, E B, 1975, 'The Bounds of Bridport' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeology Society (Article in serial). SWX1414.

<5> Bailey, C J, 1975, 'Excavations in the Glebe, Bridport, 1975' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SWX9187.

<6> Hill, D, and Rumbole, A, 1996, The Defence of Wessex: the Burghal Hidage and Anglo-Saxon fortifications, 192-3 (Monograph). SWX1416.

<7> Cox, P, Chandler, J, and Cotton, J, 1997, The Proposed Redevelopment of the Southwest Quadrant, Bridport: Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Assessment (Unpublished document). SWX8617.

<8> Brading, R, 1998, 'Bridport Tannery' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society (Article in serial). SDO10481.

<9> Adam, N J, and Valentin, J, 2003, Land adjacent to South Mill Lane, New Zealand, Bridport: Results of an archaeological evaluation (Unpublished document). SDO10491.

<10> National Record of the Historic Environment, 868053 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 30 2024 11:22AM