Battlefields in Devon - Battle of Pinhoe 1001

It was way back in December 2016 that Tom and I walked the last Battlefield in Devon report when I covered the Battle of Torrington in 1646.

The county of Devon has a long and rich history and in the last two millennia armies have come and gone and the countryside often gives little clue as to the bloody combat that has occurred among its pastoral scenery evocative of Tolkien's Shire with its narrow lanes, high hedgerows and hills and valleys, known as combes locally, interlaced with rivers and woods, only adding to the attraction of its beaches for holiday makers coming here each summer season.

The map below shows the extent of the county with its two large open high granite stones moorlands, namely Exmoor and Dartmoor where the springs of the Rivers Dart and Exe find their source. This map also serves to show the fields of battle visited so far and you can follow the links below it to pick up on other sites visited

Battle sites in Devon visited with links to previous posts below

Battlefields in Devon - Battle of Torrington
Battlefields in Devon - Battle of Bindon
Battlefields in Devon - Battle of Bovey Heath
Battlefields in Devon - Battle of Lydford
Battlefields in Devon - Battle of Sourton Down

This next battle site was touched on in a post I did covering some test games of Dux Bellorum, Steve M., Bob and I were running to put together a scenario to be played at the February club meeting of the Devon Wargames Group.

Battle of Pinhoe 1001 AD - Dux Bellorum

That game has now been played, following three play-tests prior to it, to arrive at a scenario that would capture some of the bloody struggle that occurred on Beacon Hill near Pinhoe, Exeter in 1001 and you can read how our game turned out plus pictures of the action by following the link to the DWG club blog.

Devon Wargames Group - Battle of Pinhoe, Dux Bellorum

This post however adds the final look at this classic Anglo-Saxon versus Viking Raider clash by looking at the battlefield today and a link to the PDF of our Dux Bellorum scenario should you wish to have a go yourself.

I have lost count the number of times I have written or spoken about the insights walking a battle site gives that can't be experienced by simply reading an account of what happened with a description of the key terrain.

Only when you experience how steep Beacon Hill is will you appreciate the 'charging uphill' modifier that I have applied to the Viking force in the Dux Bellorum scenario because I have experienced the effort of walking up it, not as the Vikings, clad in mail, carrying a large axe and shield, but also not having then to charge a formed shield wall on top of it, trust me, it was knackering in 1001 and it still is in 2019.

The route from Battlefield Walks in Devon by Rupert Mathews and the one I followed from the railway station up Park Lane to the open field atop Beacon Hill near St Michael's Church

I described the background to this encounter in my post about the first play-test so here I will focus on my walk and the terrain encountered.

The walk uphill to the village shops from the railway station

Parking my car close to Pinhoe station on the main line to London I began the steady climb uphill through the village towards the B3181 that forms the main road into and out of the village.

Pinhoe was thoroughly sacked and burned by the Vikings and the village you see today is a mixture of medieval, Victorian and later houses as the village grew up around the railway and the city of Exeter.

Pinhoe is typical of the villages in Devon with many an old thatch to be seen about and here on the B3181 (see map above)

Rupert Mathews in his Battlefield Walks book covering Devon, suggests Park Lane as a likely route out from the original settlement that the Vikings took after gathering in the village to eat and prepare to offer battle to the Saxons on the hill above the village.

Park Lane is a likely route taken by the Viking raiders on their climb out of the village and passes the aptly named Saxon Avenue.

On climbing the hill one immediately starts to appreciate the commanding views of the wider country together with the landing site of the raiders in the River Exe, forcing the Vikings to attack them rather than leave such a powerful force to threaten their boats and thus progress inland searching for other villages to loot.

Even half way up Park Lane you can start to appreciate the height of Beacon Hill and the controlling view of the countryside it offered Kola and his Saxon Fyrdmen

Even from the lower heights one can observe the mouth of the River Exe where the Viking boats moored and the villages along it would have had palls of smoke rising indicating the route inland taken by the invaders

It is thought that the current 15th century St Michael's Church was likely built to accommodate the ground on which the Saxon Christian burials were made following the battle and forms a useful reference point when walking up the hill.

Nearing the summit of the hill the tower of St Michael's Church, likely built on the site of the Christian burial pit can be seen poking above the hedgerows

Park Lane climbs on up to the summit of Beacon Hill

The views, once out into the open countryside, are truly awe inspiring and on the day of my walk the clouds parted to let the sun shine through and remove the threat of any further heavy showers.

The views of the Black Down Hills and East Devon are spectacular up here especially when the sun starts to break through the rain clouds

God's own country and explaining why 'Devon' rhymes with Heaven

On reaching the top, the lane leads off to the open ground above the village via a bridleway

Despite the sunshine however the previous heavy rain had left the short cross country part of the walk a little more interesting, but with a stout pair of boots on, worth the effort to see the likely site of Kola and Tokesen's bloody little encounter.

At this time of year bridleways can be a bit slippy, but hey this is part of the fun of battlefield walks

Stepping through the 'kissing gate' onto the battlefield presented the view below which, with a lot of the built up areas in the Clyst Valley below imagined as open fields,  has changed little in one thousand years.

Stepping out on to the top of Beacon Hill where Theign Kola is likely to have formed his shield wall as Tokesen's Vikings emerged onto the hill near the church in the bottom left corner

The fact that only the church tower can be seen from the hill crest shows the steep gradient up which Palig Tokesen and his raiders launched themselves into the line of Devon Fyrd

The scant report of the battle suggests Tokesen and his men launched themselves immediately uphill when they caught sight of the Saxon line and hit with such ferocity that the first charge settled the affair in favour of the raiders.

Off to the right of the Saxon line is a glorious view of Exeter and too which the they successfully broke contact and retreated to after the battle 

That said the Anglo Saxon line put up enough of a fight to be able to break off from the battle and get back to Exeter and cause the raiders to head back to their boats and depart soon after.

The same battlefield seen from the Viking lines

There is something quite moving to picture the struggle that occurred on a site particularly when situated in such a beautiful place like Beacon Hill.

I only hope this place survives the hunt for more and more building plots in this part of Devon to allow others in the future to get the experience I was lucky to enjoy on my afternoon walk.

One has to imagine around 6,000 heavily armed men going at it "hammer and tongs" as the opposing lines met in mortal combat 

The 15th c. St Micheal and All Angels Church, Pinhoe in the red sandstone typical of this part of East Devon

I finished my walk by taking time to look at St Michael's Church which forms an equally pretty backdrop and stands as a memorial to the bravery of the vicar of Pinhoe at the time of the battle who it is reported braved a journey to and from Exeter to deliver extra arrows and other weapons to the hard pressed Saxon army.

The vicar of Pinhoe, following its sacking and burning by the Vikings, is reported to have courageously ridden to Exeter to get more arrows for the Anglo-Saxon army, for which he received an annual payment of 16 shillings after the battle

St George and the Dragon in the porch window seems to capture some of the drama of 1001

The beautiful 17th c. thatched lychgate of St Michael's

Rupert Mathews the author of the book I am using to plan these walks has his own blog and you can read his account of this walk and battle in the link below.

https://thehistorymanatlarge.blogspot.com/2010/02/battle-of-pinhoe-devon-in-year-1001.html

Finally, as promised, you can access the scenario and orders of battle for our Battle of Pinhoe, Dux Bellorum game in the link below.

Battle of Pinhoe PDF - Dux Bellorum

Battle of Pinhoe 1001 AD - Dux Bellorum

In 1001 a Viking force estimated to have been around 4-5,000 men strong marched on King Ethelred's burgh and fortified city of Exeter led by the infamous Viking raider Palig Tokesen who was supposed to have been preventing such activity for Ethelred, having been paid by the king and granted a manor for his services.

The campaign area in 1001 AD and my home town front and centre in the history

The force set out from its landing point on the beaches of Exmouth and rowed up the River Exe to attack the city but found it well prepared and with the defences able to rely on the protection from the old Roman walls, built by the Legions and kept in good repair since those times.

Failing to intimidate the city to surrender the invaders fell back to Exmouth burning and pillaging the local area on their way but also spreading out further afield so that Lympstone and Topsham went up in flames and Pinhoe, a little village to the north-east of the city, was next on the list of targets.

It came as a bit of a shock to the Vikings to then find that the county army of Devon supported by men from Somerset had gathered on a hill just north of the village.

Kola the High Reeve of Devon and Viking leader Palig Tokesen go toe to toe in our mid-week test game

Dux Bellorum are really very good and I have always enjoyed playing them

Exact and precise details about this battle are not available but what is reported allows some assumptions to be made to try and piece them together.

The likely place for the Anglo-Saxon force to have gathered is Beacon Hill above the village with commanding views out over the surrounding countryside and estuary, perhaps relying on the natural strength of the site to deter any sudden attack.

The army is reported to have been led by the High Reeve of Devon called simply Kola and his deputy Eadsige indicating that the main army of Devon was gathered.

Based on the 8,000 population of Devon available to be taxed it is estimated that the county could have mustered some 2,000 properly equipped warriors plus a few extras added in from across the county border with Somerset.

Beacon Hill with its Celtic Cross where the burial pits would be dug close to Pinhoe Church that stands near the battlefield today

Thus it is thought that the Vikings would have had an advantage in numbers by about two to one and experience given that these Vikings had been making a nuisance of themselves around the south coast of England and East Anglia for a number of years previously so probably knew their stuff when it came to a bit of sword, axe and spear play.

The Vikings on arrival in force attacked immediately, uphill without hesitation and seemed to have caused havoc in that first charge.

However the local forces fought back bravely and although eventually forced off their position and to retreat back to Exeter seemed to have given a good enough account of themselves to have managed to break off and not loose any of their leaders in the process.

The two forces gathered before our game - so nice to get the collection out again and I must plan to get some more!

In addition to that and despite, as one chronicler reports, 'The heathens had the power of the battlefield' the result gained them little and they immediately returned to their ships and Exmouth splitting their forces and with Tokesen hurriedly making his way to London to make his peace with Ethelred.

The game was the first chance to try out my new hills

Thus with this amount of information I thought it might be fun to re-fight this local battle which was fought only about a mile or so from where the Devon Wargames Group meet at next month's club gathering and give myself an opportunity to get the Dark Age collection out in 2019.

As before, my rule-set of choice is Dan Mersey's Dux Bellorum and to help sort out trying to capture the key aspects of this fight in a table-top encounter, before taking it to club, I enrolled the help of my regular wargaming partner Steve M who offered himself up in the role of the Viking leader as we both got reacquainted with the rules.

Kola and his force of Devon Fyrd

With Beacon hill being the key feature of this battle and that the Vikings charged up it in spite of its commanding position I simply put out my new modular hill terrain as seen, sprinkled a limited amount of terrain in the form of the odd set of open woods, small copses and sorted out two armies to fight the standard 'Annals Battle' scenario which is basically a line em up, go at it affair.

Tokesen's veteran Vikings with all those pesky archers

Both armies arranged for battle with Steve's Viking force arranged in three distinct groups on the left of picture 

I opted to set the Anglo Saxons up as per the army list in the book but with 49 points rather than the suggest 32 and with a predominately warrior based force , with only a couple of noble warrior/foot companion bases. In addition I made the Saxons up as a Shield-Wall force.

You can almost hear the shields being beat upon as the war-cry goes up heralding the Viking charge

The Vikings on the other hand were based on the Sea Raiders list with predominantly noble warrior/foot companion bases and a few basic warrior types to make up the numbers. To this force I gave the Viking one extra skirmish base with all of them counted as archers and an extra Leadership Point (LP) token bringing the total to 48 points.

The Anglo-Saxon line waits braced behind their boards

We played through about eight turns of play before calling it a night  with the Anglo-Saxons well on top having neutralised three Viking skirmishers and a warrior base for no loss at that point.

The two lines close and the Saxon skirmishers in the woods closest to camera prepare to ambush the Viking archers with a surprise charge of their own

As always, Shield-walls are tough to break down but the added rule we used to dice to see if LP's used to cancel a hit was effective on a 4,5 or 6 helped to reduce the effectiveness although all the set up is under review following this first test game and we will change rolls and a few set up rules prior to our next rematch next week.

The Saxon line fought in two parts with the bulk of the force on the hill with Kola

We both really enjoyed getting back into Dux B and if you are thinking about playing this set and haven't done so I would readily recommend getting them and playing them.

Crunch! The two lines come together as the Vikings make an impetuous charge on the Saxon shield-wall. However the Vikings are getting the worst of it with the figures behind the lines indicating where casualties have been taken

The decision points for the players throughout the game are many and highly entertaining with the playing of LPs at critical moments in the battle a real highlight that we both thoroughly enjoyed.

On the Saxon left Kola's foot companions met head on with Tokesen's 

Once I have worked out the right balance for this scenario and given the chaps at the DWG the first sighting and playing of it I will report back on how it played and share the set ups and orders of battle in full detail.

The end of this first test game with the Viking line looking battered and with Saxon skirmishers closing in on the rear of the left flank (left of picture)

Kola's companions hold the Viking right as their left collapses

Until then I thought I would share these pictures of out test game to whet the appetite.

Thanks Steve for a fun game and for your input into the scenario and looking forward to next weeks re-run.

References used:
Battlefield Walks Devon - Rupert Mathews

Next up - I'm off to Crusade tomorrow and plan to do my normal report on all the fun of the day plus the long promised Museum of Somerset and visit to Taunton post is done so I will probably get that out next week.