Editing South West England (section)

===British kingdoms and the arrival of the Saxons===
[[File:Maes Knoll Tump.jpg|thumb|[[Maes Knoll]] the western end of [[Wansdyke (earthwork)|Wansdyke]]]]
{{Main|Wessex|Constitutional status of Cornwall}}
After the Romans left at the start of the 5th century AD, the region split into several Brittonic kingdoms, including [[Dumnonia]], centred around the old tribal territory of the [[Dumnonii]].<ref name=pearce>Pearce, Susan M. (1978), ''The Kingdom of Dumnonia: Studies in History and Tradition in South-Western Britain A.D. 350–1150'' Padstow: Lodenek Press.</ref> The upper Thames area soon came under [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] control but the remainder of the region was in British control until the 6th century.<ref>{{cite book|last=	Stenton|first= F. M.|year=1971|title=Anglo-Saxon England |edition= 3rd|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-280139-5| page=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Morris|first=John |author-link=John Morris (historian)|year=1973 |title=The Age of Arthur|publisher=Phoenix|isbn=1-84212-477-3|location=London | page=299}}</ref>  [[Bokerley Dyke]], a large defensive ditch on [[Cranborne Chase]] dated to 367, delayed the [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] conquest of Dorset, with the Romano-British remaining in Dorset for 200 years after the withdrawal of the Roman legions. The Western [[Wansdyke (earthwork)|Wandsdyke]] earthwork was probably built during the 5th or 6th century. This area became the border between the [[Romano-British]] [[Celt]]s and the [[Anglo-Saxons|West Saxons]] following the [[Battle of Deorham]] in 577.<ref name="ASC577">''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', [http://britannia.com/history/docs/501-97.html 501–97 AD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110114415/http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/501-97.html |date=10 November 2006 }}.</ref>

The Anglo-Saxons then gained control of the Cotswold area; but most of Somerset, Dorset and Devon (as well as Cornwall) remained in British hands until the late 7th century. According to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', the Saxon [[Cenwalh of Wessex|Cenwalh]] achieved a breakthrough against the [[Brython|British]] Celtic tribes, with victories at [[Bradford-on-Avon]] (in the ''Avon Gap'' in the Wansdyke) in 652,<ref name="ASC652">''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', [http://britannia.com/history/docs/645-56.html 645–56 AD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212033046/http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/645-56.html |date=12 December 2007 }}</ref> and further south at the [[Battle of Peonnum]] (at [[Penselwood]]) in 658,<ref name="ASC658">''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', [http://britannia.com/history/docs/658-75.html 658–75 AD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212065210/http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/658-75.html |date=12 December 2007 }}</ref> followed by an advance west through the [[Polden Hills]] to the [[River Parrett]].<ref name="VCH">''The Victoria History of the County of Somerset'', Vol 1 (1906){{page}}</ref> The Saxon advance from the east seems to have been halted by battles between the British and Saxons, for example at the siege of Badon [[Mons Badonicus]] (which may have been in the Bath district, perhaps at [[Solsbury Hill]]),<ref>{{cite web | title=Roman Times | work=Britannia | url=http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/somhist3.html | access-date=29 October 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061112073000/http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/somhist3.html | archive-date=12 November 2006 | url-status=dead }}</ref> or [[Bathampton Down]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The hidden places of Somerset |last=Scott |first=Shane |year=1995 |publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd |location=Aldermaston |isbn=1-902007-01-8 |page=16 }}</ref> The Battle of [[Bedwyn]] was fought in 675 between [[Aescwine of Wessex|Escuin]], a [[Wessex|West Saxon]] nobleman who had seized the throne of [[Seaxburh of Wessex|Queen Saxburga]], and [[King Wulfhere]] of [[Mercia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearson |first=Michael |title=Kennet & Avon Middle Thames: Pearson's Canal Companion |year=2003 |publisher=Central Waterways Supplies|location=Rugby |isbn=0-907864-97-X}}</ref> The earliest fortification of [[Taunton]] started for King [[Ine of Wessex]] and [[Æthelburg of Wessex|Æthelburg]], in or about the year 710. However, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' this was destroyed 12 years later.<ref name="britannia">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/castles/tauntoncast.html |title=History of Taunton Castle in Somerset |author=Charles Oman |access-date=21 November 2007 |work=Britannia castles |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531115627/http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/castles/tauntoncast.html |archive-date=31 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Alfred the Great]] refortified Exeter as a defensive [[burh]], followed by new erections at [[Lydford]], [[Halwell]] and [[Pilton, Devon|Pilton]], although these fortifications were small compared to [[burh]]s further east, suggesting that they were protection for the elite only.