h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Stenton goes even further than that. His Anglo-Saxon England (which I borrowed from the library and have since returned, so I can't give you a page reference, I'm afraid) more or less says that Cornwall became English after the battle of Hingston Down and flatly denies the existence of any survival of British culture after then.

Even making allowances for the age of Stenton’s book, I don’t know how he arrived at this conclusion. What did he think had been going on in Cornwall in the 900 years between the Battle of Hingston Down and the death of Dolly Pentreath in 1777? That the Cornish language carried on as some kind of eccentric hobby? I don’t think so. If having a spoken Celtic language isn’t evidence of the survival of British culture, then I don’t know what is.

More Brythonic elements in Devon placenames?

In Devon there are two placenames containing the element ‘Kelly’. There is a hamlet called Kelly in west Devon and a village called Broadwood Kelly in north Devon. There is also a Kelly in west Cornwall and a Kelly Bray in the east. In Cornwall it is accepted that the ‘Kelly’ element means ‘grove’ in Cornish. I wonder what explanation is given for its appearance in Devon? The Broadwood Kelly example strongly suggests it is Brythonic, with the English simply added on to a previously existing ‘Kelly’.

The village of Charles, in north Devon, is another apparent Celtic survival. This website may be of interest.

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/charles.htm

EVB,

As you suggest Charles (in North Devon) is a Celtic name and derives from "Carn Lys" or "Caer Lys" signifying it was the base for a local Celtic chiefdom that survived the Saxon 'invasion'.

Historian W G Hoskins (in 'The Westward expansion of Wessex') makes the suggestion that "the remarkable course of the Devon/Somerset boundary from the north coast down to the Blackdown hills suggest...some sort of racial frontier dating from this time" which he bases on the meaning of the name Charles and the Celtic placenames that surround Charles but do not extend beyond the Devon border.

The course of the Devon/Somerset border in this area is indeed curious.

If you look at a map of the far northern part of the border (further north than Charles) you would note that the boundary leaves the East Lyn River at a point some many miles from its mouth and where the river turns sharply west, and the boundary then crosses fairly directly to the coast (a direct distance of only a few miles). Just to the west of this diversion is shown an old 'roman fortlet', which sits on the top of old Burrow Hill with the Coast to the north and the deep East Lyn Valley to the south.

It seems to me that this is no mere accident, but rather that the boundary is consistent with a strong military position to the west - a good point to halt an eastward expansion.

Ozzie Exile,

Thanks for this interesting information about the Devon-Somerset border. I took a look myself, and a map of the area can be found here;

www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.2273&lon=-3.7343&scale=25000&icon=x

I can imagine a Briton chieftain using the old Roman infrastructure of the fort and the natural features of the landscape to prevent Saxon settlers moving westwards into British land. The road enters the valley at County Gate, where I learned there now stands an 18th century gatehouse and two roadside stone pillars marking the entrance to North Devon. These constructions may echo an uneasy standoff, a 1,000 years before, between the Britons and the expansion of the English settlers.

North Devon has preserved many Celtic features, in church dedications, placenames and its holy wells. Maybe this ancient ‘border’ was a successful one, and one that endured.

Regarding Hoskins, rather than a racial frontier, I think this border would have been more a last stand of British political, economic and administrative control. At Culbone, a couple of miles east of this point in Somerset, is a church with a Celtic dedication to St. Beuno. There are dedications to St Petrock in the west of Somerset, as at Timberscombe. These show that Celtic culture survived in the west of Somerset, as it did in Devon, after both fell under the rule of Wessex.

EVB,

Hoskin's comment was (in my opinion) referring to the border of control rather than the racial makeup of the population as a whole.

To put this into context he refers to Charles because it was the base for a chiefdom. It is this definition of racial control that pervades Hoskin's article "The Westward expansion of Wessex" (from which this is taken) rather than any analysis of the genetics of the population.

Hoskins does talk about the survival of the British population even after Saxon conquest and settlement - suggesting the poorer lands were left entirely under British control, and where significants pockets of British survived even in lands where the Saxons took control.

What Hoskin's does suggest is a logic for the current Devon/Somerset border, suggesting that it is far more than just a modern day administrative demarkation line, but rather that it is of antiquity and history.

The Cornish make much of the Tamar in this regard, although you know doubt know that the boundary has often not not along the whole of the Tamar in any event (eg Maker and Rame were part of Devon, and the boundary used to divert both east and west of the river in the mid-North - indeed as it still does around Bridgerule and Tinney.)

Plymouth Exile,

I recently found what seems to be the official page for the results of the Blood of the Vikings survey:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/tcga/tcgapdf/capelli-CB-03.pdf

I was looking back at the older sections of this thread where I found your reply to a message of mine.

Here is some of your reply:

"You may well be correct in your theory that Danish rather than Anglo-Saxon settlers may have accounted for the strong continental element in North and East England, as the UCL team were unable to determine any Y-Chromosome differences between the Danes and the Anglo-Saxons. However, as UCL teams surveyed a number of other North East towns, and they all gave similar results, it is likely that the Britons did not survive as a majority in this area. The towns in the “Blood of the Vikings” survey were:-

Morpeth, Penrith, York, Wirral, Horncastle, Uttoxeter and Sherringham.

In another UCL survey, the towns covered were:-

North Walsham, Fakenham, Bourne, Southwell and Ashbourne

It seems unlikely that these twelve towns are unrepresentative of the rest of the North East. However, a more local study in the Wirral and surrounding areas revealed a strong British (Celtic) element in Mid Cheshire. So apart from the anomalous result from Llanidloes, the boundary of the Danelaw does indeed appear to be an ethnic boundary."


An interesting thing I noticed on the presumably official page is that they appear to be saying that only the Norfolk towns and York, Southwell and I think Wirral, have predominantly 'invader' DNA; so in other words most of even the North and East towns are predominantly Celtic.

Einion

You are quite correct that the Capelli et al paper is the formal academic presentation of the ‘Blood of the Vikings’ test data. I had written the earlier reply to you before I had seen the Capelli paper, and was basing what I said on the much more superficial conclusions from the BBC ‘Blood of the Vikings’ web site. Since finding the Capelli paper about a year ago, I have carried out some further analysis of the data contained therein, which I hereby present below:-

As the tables and charts presented in the Y-Chromosome Census are not at all easy to understand, I have used the method of genetic distance vectors (as described in the book “Reflections of Our Past” - How human history is revealed in our genes, by John H. Relethford) to carry out a basic calculation of the relative percentages of both Indigenous (Celts) and Continental invaders for the various survey test sites. I cannot claim that the method I used is as accurate as the more sophisticated techniques used by the UCL researchers, but the results do seem to correlate well with the few percentages, which have been quoted by the UCL team. For instance, they quoted indigenous percentages ranging from 50% to 75% in the South of England and 70% Continental invaders for York. They also stated that whereas most of Wales was solidly Indigenous (Celtic), Llanidloes showed an unusually high percentage of Anglo-Saxons/Danes. Therefore I have concluded that the method I used cannot be that far out. Here are the results of the calculations:-

Wales:-
Haverfordwest 95% Ind 5% G/D
Llangefni 100% Ind 0% G/D
Llanidloes 55% Ind 45% G/D

Scotland:-
Shetland 55% Ind 45% N
Orkney 55% Ind 45% N
Western Isles 55% Ind 45% G/D & N
Durness 75% Ind 25% G/D & N
Stonehaven 75% Ind 25% G/D
Pitlochry 85% Ind 15% G/D
Oban 95% Ind 5% N & G/D

North and East England:-
York 30% Ind 70% G/D
Norfolk 40% Ind 60% G/D
Morpeth 70% Ind 30% G/D
Southwell 55% Ind 45% G/D
Uttoxeter 65% Ind 35% G/D
Penrith 60% Ind 40% N & G/D

South and West England:-
Chippenham 50% Ind 50% G/D
Faversham 75% Ind 25% G/D
Midhurst 75% Ind 25% G/D
Dorchester 70% Ind 30% G/D
Cornwall 75% Ind 25% G/D

Ireland:-
Rush 90% Ind 10% N

Isle of Man 65% Ind 35% N & G/D

Channel Islands 55% Ind 45% G/D

NB. Ind = Indigenous (Celts)
G/D = German/Danish (Anglo-Saxons/Danish Vikings)
N = Norwegian (Norwegian Vikings)
(As the method of calculation is fairly basic, the percentages are rounded to nearest 5%, as any greater precision would not be justified.)


This leaves only York and Norfolk as having definite Germanic majorities, but due to the limited margins of precision of the method used, the English towns of Southwell and Chippenham should perhaps be regarded as being approximately 50/50. The Uttoxeter result seems to indicate a gradient as one approaches the Welsh border, rather than a sudden step at Offa’s Dyke as some have proposed. The Morpeth (Northumberland) result indicates a native British survival rate close to that in Southern England. This may at first seem surprising for an East Coast site, but when one considers that Morpeth is some distance to the north of Hadrian’s Wall, perhaps it is not such a surprise. The overall result for England (by averaging) comes out at 60% Ind, 40% G/D.

I hope this more detailed data helps to clear up some of the anomalies from my previous reply.

Plymouth Exile,

A very interesting and informative reply. I could never find a quotation of percentages for all the towns surveyed so that is very helpful.

I have seen a few quotations and I think Chippenham was 50%-50% and York 30% indigenous with 70% German/Danish as well as a couple of other towns whose quoted results correlate with your calculations. So I agree that I think your calculations are pretty close to the mark.


Regarding the interesting results from Morpeth, I think it fits in well with the early history of the area.

The British kingdom of Bernaccia (or Bryneich) does not seem to have fallen to the Angles until about 547 A.D. (when it became Bernicia, and subsequently joined with Deira to become Northumbria). Now it appears that migration from North Germany ceased around 500 A.D. so the Anglian takeover was apparently not a result of an influx of Germanic people.
These Anglians must have been present in the kingdom through many years of post-Roman Celtic rule, and their numbers cannot have been overwhelming considering the late survival (under British rule) of the kingdom.

http://www.kessler-web.co.uk/History/KingListsBritain/BritainBernaccia.htm

http://www.kessler-web.co.uk/History/KingListsBritain/EnglandBernicia.htm

Einion,

There is a probable explanation for the unexpected result for Llanidloes, whose population grew dramatically at the beginning of the 19th century when the very rich Van Lead Mine went into production. Large numbers of Derbyshire lead miners from the Peak District were brought into the area to work the mine. These accounted for a large proportion of the local population at that time, and it is likely that many of their descendents are still there.

Chippenham seems to go against the trend for Southern England in having an unusually high percentage of Germanic settlers among its early population. This may be accounted for by the fact that the earliest settlements of the West Saxons were shown by archaeological evidence to have been in the Upper Thames Valley, i.e. close to Chippenham.

Probably the biggest surprise (and one, which came as a shock to proponents of the traditional Angle/Saxon/Jute invasion theory) was the result for Faversham in Kent, with a 75% Indigenous population (the same as Cornwall). In the English nation foundation myth (Hengist and Horsa), Kent is supposed to have been the first area in Britain where the invaders (Jutes) gained undisputed territorial control. One might be able to explain away the Faversham result as being due to more recent internal population migrations, but for the fact that Midhurst (Sussex) showed the same Indigenous percentage. The only conclusion that fits the facts seems to be that the earliest Angle/Saxon/Jute settlements were not in Kent, but in East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, where the Germanic genetic heritage was at its maximum.

Plymouth Exile
Genetic descent and cultural descent are different but can be related.
The Cornish and Devonians might share DNA, but do they share cultural identity? The Cornish have a living language AND a perception of being other than English AND a desire to see Cornwall recognised as other than England. Can Devon say this?

Many Cornish perceive themselves as being descended from the people who constructed these monuments genetically and culturally, your argument seems to rest just on genetic descent. How many Devonian feel Celtic? How many would say they are not English? How many feel connected to the ancient Britons?

The people close to either side of the England Wales border are probably genetically very similar and most speak English, does that mean they are the same?

Yes genetically the SW peninsula might be homogeneous, but the last real bastion of a cultural identity other than Englishness, of a desire for home rule and independence exists in Cornwall only.

acrobaticTinman,

Sadly your posting typifies a number of those from Cornwall.

The last sentence says it all

"but the last real bastion of a cultural identity other than Englishness, of a desire for home rule and independence exists in Cornwall only."

Sorry??? Says who???

Why do you think you can define how Devonians think???

Firstly I think many Devonians would say that their cultural identity is Devonian/British rather than simply English. In fact many would see a considerable distance between their culture and (say) that of the home counties. That actually begs the question "Is there a single English culture?" I doubt there is.

Secondly, many Devonians do want increased devolution to Devon (refer the BBC Devon website). I am unot qualified to state what the Cornish want, but it seems to me that only a very small percentage seek actual and full independence, and that most want greater devolution to a Cornish body but to remain within the UK. This is not that different from what a number of Devonians seek.

Plymouth Exile,

If I remember rightly the Peak District is an area with a fairly large proportion of Celtic placenames.
It seems unlikely to me that there is strong German/Danish element there, but even if say 50% of DNA there is G/D it's unlikely that it would have such a profound effect on the result from Llanidloes.

I think it can probably be explained as the result of a Viking settlement there. There was certainly Viking settlement in Wales (for instance, off the south-west coast are two islands called Skomer and Skokholm) and looking at a map it seems that Llanidloes, not too far inland, is also situated on a river of reasonably large size; this kind of town was a favourite for Vikings.

I'm not sure if I've already said this a while ago, but Vikings tended to congregate in walled towns, without necessarily settling in surrounding countryside, so it's not surprising if we come across towns which are genetically uncharacteristic of their regions as a whole.
It's true that the geneticists surveyed men from 30 miles (or was it kilometres) around a town but large towns are likely to contain a disproportionately high percentage of the sample.

I think it's possible that relatively recent English settlement has (as you said) also raised the G/D element even higher.

The result from Faversham is (I think) not necessarily inconsistent with its being the area of earliest settlement.
However, although it was the first area to come under Germanic control, I'd say it is probable that all of the eastern and south-eastern coasts of England were settled about the same time, but took over the local British kingdoms at different times.

An interesting thing to take into consideration is the fact that the Saxons do not appear to have used mast and sail on their ships. they appear to have had only rowing boats of about 30 metres long.
So it is rather unlikely that they migrated directly across the North Sea, as often stated; it's more likely that they rowed along the coast of Germany and the Netherlands until reaching the strait of Dover, and then either crossed to Britain or continued down the coast of Gaul (much of the northern Gaulish coastal area was conquered by Saxons, and in fact, John Beddoe said that a Saxon language was spoken in parts of the area until the 11th century).

It also appears that migration ceased around 500 A.D. but there was probably little migration in the preceding 20 years, mainly some coming and going between Britain, Gaul and different parts of both countries.

With these and various other facts in mind, I believe there is no reason to assume that the number of Anglo-Saxons who entered Britain was any more than about 200,000 (possibly less). The population of late Roman and post-Roman Britain is now usually estimated to have been about 4 million, with more extreme estimates ranging from 2 to 6 million.

All things considered then, I suppose it need’nt really be a surprise that south-east England is predominantly Celtic in DNA.
And considering most of what is now England was conquered by Saxons well after 500 A.D. it’s probably unlikely that any major colonisation extended beyond the eastern and south-eastern areas.

Stroppy is that you?
I talk from personal experience only, but i would like to see the results of a school survey and census in Devon where one of the options would be Celtic Devonian instead of English.

Out of interest how many Devonian English carry a surname of Celtic British origin and give me some examples?

"Why do you think you can define how Devonians think???"
Indeed i could ask you the same question.

"Firstly I think many Devonians would say that their cultural identity is Devonian/British rather than simply English."
How do you know this?

I lived in Cornwall for 25 years, i have plenty of friends from Devon and beyond. I have always thought of myself as a Cornishman and those east of the Tamar as English and from the Devonians i know i have had a response that confirms this. I have never thought of myself as an extremist Cornish Nationalist just a Cornishman.

Of course many people in Devon and Cornwall call themselves British but i would say this has more to do with the British project of our London rulers than any affinity to the Celtic Britons.

The genetic identity of English people close to the Scots and Welsh boarders is probably very similar to that of the Scots and Welsh just across the boarder. They may also have a lot in common culturally and feel equally distant from the archetypal home counties Englishman.
However the border still exists and the Scots and Welsh still see theses people as English even if these English folk prefer the term British. I would say the situation is the same between Cornwall and Devonshire. I can see that i have more in common with many folk from Devonshire than else where in England, and apparently we have the same DNA but that does not change my perception of you as an Englishman.

As to Devonians wanting devolution you have to go a bit further than the BBC devolution debate and your petition.

To support my idea that a sense of otherness and desire for greater home rule really only exists in any significant amount west of the Tamar please read the following. Perhaps you could start a Sons of Devon movement, surly all the Celtic Devonians would support you.

The petition of 50000.

Two opinion poles showing support at around %50.

The on line petition.

The existence and cross party work of the Cornish Constitutional Convention.

The existence of Mebyon Kernow the councillors they have and votes taken at General election.

The existence of various other pressure groups and organisations such as the Cornish Stannery Parliament and Cornwall 2000, supported by donation from Cornish folk and the descendants of Cornish immigrants.

The Lib Dem's being the biggest party in Cornwall who often campaign on there Cornish credentials and call for devolved power or more Cornish institutions.

The big interest shown in the Cornish language and the success of the revival including the various festivals in Cornwall and around the world. Our inclusion in the Celtic league.

Most european languages have a word for Cornwall, the Cornish and our language. No region of England can say this including Devon.

The common and fond referral to Cornwall as a country with the Tamar as its boarder often heard among the Cornish. I have never heard tell of anything like this in Devon.

The common differentiation made by Cornish folk of being Cornish and not English. Do Devonians refer to their neighbours in the counties further east as English and therefore different?

The inclusion of Cornish as an ethnic category on the last census and the recent school survey. I don't see many people taking class actions against the Devon LEA to get Celtic Devonian as a recognised ethnic group.

The EU recognises the distinct existence of the Cornish and has called for our inclusion under the Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities. Has it done this for Celtic Devonians?

The work you have done to point out that British history did not begin with the Romans and is not just the story of the English is laudable.
And if you want to try and sell a Celtic Devonian identity to Devonian English and emigrant English from Devon go ahead, run your idea up the flag pole and we will see who salutes it.

Hi Bob

Its Fulub.

Oh forgot to say Cornwall is a Duchy!

acrobatic Tinman (alias Fulub),

I think you have come to the wrong forum. The Celtic Devon forum is here for people to discuss aspects of Devon’s Celtic heritage, which has nothing whatsoever to do with whether our Cornish neighbours see themselves as being English or not. Devon’s Celtic heritage can be in no doubt, as a large majority of our ancient ancestors were Brythonic Celtic people from the Dark Age Celtic Kingdom of Dumnonia, and a Brythonic language was spoken in a large part of Devon well into the 14th century. If you wish to make any relevant contributions on the subject of Devon’s Celtic heritage, then you are very welcome to stay and join in the discussion. However, if you wish to debate Cornish separatism, then I would suggest that you find a more appropriate forum to discuss that topic.

In all truth Bob i was responding in kind to your comments about various Cornish organisations and their members, which also seem quite inappropriate on this forum, by your own definition that is.

Cheers now

acrobatic Tinman (alias Fulub),

We have only commented on Cornish organisations and their members when they have attempted to distort Devon’s history and/or heritage (which are core topics of this forum).

Ah, I didn't recognise you Fulub, cleverly concealed as you were under your alternate (Wizard of Oz?) identity.

I think you are under a misapprehension.

I don't think anyone in Devon is trying to steal the Cornish identity. There is much in Cornwall that is unique and I think it a wonderful land.

However some of those promoting a campaign for an independent Cornwall, rather than choosing to argue on Cornwall's real and unarguable merits, have chosen to exagerate and claim a number of unique characteristics which simply are not true.

It appears that rather than choosing to limit their claims to what Cornwall and the Cornish are, and go on to define what Devon and Devonians are - without so much as a by your leave.

I don't see the Welsh or Scots doing this sort of stuff, so why do it.

To give you once example, there are many Cornish websites claiming that Cornwall was unique in having a stannary Parliament. Devon had one as well and it existed until 1748, and to this day at least one stannary town still appoints a Stannator (Plympton).

Cornish wrestling also had its counterpart in Devon - with somewhat different rules. Both were forms of Celtic wrestling, and up until the nineteenth century it was immensely popular.

Even the Cornish language (or something very close to it) lingered in Devon as least as late as the fourteenth century (according to historian Risdon - who lived almost at a contemporary time). There are websites out there which describe Cornish as being the Celtic language of Devon and Cornwall. I know very many Devonians who have learnt at least some Cornish.

You speak about the LibDems. Devon also has a strong LibDem vote and a number of Devon MP's - four (as many as the Tories and one more than Labour)- and currently they share power on Devon County Council. Devon and Cornwall were for a long time one of the few places to elect some Liberal MPs (I remember when the only local Lib MPs were North Devon and North Cornwall - and that was one third of the total parliamentary force).

You also speak of Mebyon Kernow. they exist it is true but without wishing to be to critical, they have hardly carried all before them at the polls.

Growing up in Devon I feel qualified to speak for at least some views held. Many Devonians see themselves as being part of a region which includes Cornwall and Devon (and extends at least to the eastern edge of Exmoor). This doesn't mean that they see Devon and Cornwall as the same - far from it - the rivalry is fiercest on any playing field but exists in many ways.

If Devonians have not been as vocal as the Cornish in defining their identity in the late twentieth and now early twenty-first century, I believe this is largely due to a wholly inadequate local history education curriculum, and a lack of a forum for communication.

Hopefully what is happening now is the beginning of an improved "Devon" education process, by getting the discussion out in the public arena.

What doesn't help is when people reiterate mistruths and lies about what Devon is. Devonians do not want to be Cornish - they are very happy being Devonian thanks - but we don't need the Cornish to define us - we will do it ourselves.

As i said your efforts to correct the view of British history is a worthy exercise. If this means you improve the quality of the information that the Cornish have about their history so much the better.

I am just wondering if you are trying to turn Devon's Celtic past into a present day Celtic Devonian identity. If this is the case what degree of success have you had and what plans do you have for the future, political aspirations perhaps?

You might not want the Cornish to define you but i think this is often the case. One group defining itself by defining the other.

"Many Devonians see themselves as being part of a region which includes Cornwall and Devon" i don't now how many in Cornwall would agree with this.

Regards
Fulub

I returned to the forum yesterday to find it had taken a detour into Cornish nationalism!

To Fulub, I appreciate the points you made, but I have always been of the belief that Devon and Cornwall share as much as they are different, and that great benefits would come from deeper co-operation, perhaps even a shared regional government.

I am aware of Cornish reservations that the capital of such an arrangement might be Exeter, with its easterly location, but Devonians have exactly the same reservations regarding Bristol, where there have been in the past, and still are today, attempts to shift regional administration.

In the modern world there is no need for a single city to be the ‘capital’ in Devon and Cornwall. Its agencies could be distributed around the peninsula. Its assembly could meet in both Exeter and Truro.

My fear is that, if Devon and Cornwall do not stand together, then both could, one day in the future, be subsumed into a South West region stretching from Scilly to Gloucestershire. Had its not been for the good sense of the people of north eastern England voting down John Prescott’s dire schemes, that is exactly what we would be facing now; although I am convinced that people throughout the south west would, in the vote, have given it the same treatment as up north. But who knows, it could have scraped through, and then what?

One thing is for sure, Devon and Cornwall would have lost their county councils and whatever vestiges of autonomy they provide.

I agree with Ozzie’s conclusions, particularly the one regarding the teaching of local history. I studied history from GCSE level to university, and in the parts concerning Britain, the history of Devon and Cornwall was not mentioned on a single occasion.

Some omissions are so serious as to amount to suppression of historical information in the education curriculum. One example being the Prayer Book rebellion of 1549. The failure to teach the history of this nationally important event, particularly in the place of its origin, has led to widespread misconceptions. One of these being that it was a exclusively Cornish uprising.

From http://www.devon.gov.uk/library/locstudy/bookhist/west33.html

“This was a change [the prayer book] which affected every parish church in Devon. Previous changes, affecting the monastic houses and the Cathedral had not touched most of the people. But now a new book became a hated symbol for many of the common folk who opposed the changes being forced on them. When on Whitsunday 1549 the incumbent of Sampford Courtenay on the edge of Dartmoor read the service from the new Book of Common Prayer the parishioners likened it to “a Christmas game” and compelled him to return to the old ritual. After a scuffle with the justices the protesters gathered supporters as they marched toward Crediton and besieged Exeter on 2 July, demanding the withdrawal of all English scriptures. Although there were many sympathisers within the walls the City barred its gates. Protector Somerset had sent Sir Peter and Sir Gawen Carew, two radical Protestants, to pacify the rebels but to little effect. The delay during the siege of Exeter allowed John Lord Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, one of the chief beneficiaries of the dissolution of the monasteries, to arrive with mercenary troops to defeat the rebels at Fenny Bridges in July and at Clyst Heath on 3 and 4 August. Exeter was relieved on 6 August and the final resistance squashed at Sampford Courtenay eleven days later (Hoskins 1954, 233-4).

Hoskins’s account is a sanitised version of what happened, thousands of rebels and many priests from both Devon and Cornwall were murdered.

To this day, as you enter the village of Sampford Courtenay, its sign informs visitors of the village’s key role in initiating the rebellion. It has not been forgotten.