Editing Battle of Deorham (section)

====Twentieth-century military-history speculation====
The belief that the ''Chronicle'' account was substantially reliable—notwithstanding its obvious brevity—encouraged elaborate speculation by [[Antiquarian|antiquarians]] such as [[Welbore St Clair Baddeley]]. In 1929 he supposed that the Saxons launched a surprise attack and seized the hill fort at the Hinton Hill Camp (near Dyrham) because it commanded the [[River Avon (Bristol)|Avon Valley]], and disrupted communications north and south between Bath and the neighbouring Romano-British towns of Gloucester and Cirencester. Once the Saxons were in occupation of the site (and, he supposed, had begun reinforcing the existing [[Iron Age]] defensive structures at the site) the Britons of those three towns were compelled to unite and make a combined attempt to dislodge them. Their attempt failed and the three opposing British kings were killed. Their routed forces were driven north of the [[River Severn]] and south of Bath where it appears they began the construction of the defensive earthwork called the ''[[Wansdyke (earthwork)|Wansdyke]]'' in a doomed attempt to prevent more territory from being lost.<ref>[http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/3865/hinton_hill.html The Modern Antiquarian]</ref>

The military historian Lieutenant-Colonel [[Alfred Burne]], employing his theory of "inherent military probability", opted for a simpler explanation for the battle than Baddeley. In his view, Ceawlin was methodically advancing towards the Severn and the three forces of Britons concentrated to stop him. Burne suggests that they formed up along two slight ridges across the trackway that skirted the [[Royal forests|Forest of Braden]], with Hinton Hill Camp behind them as their stores depot. Burne speculated that if the Saxon attack drove the Britons back from their first line onto the second ridge near the edge of the escarpment, the slightest further retreat would leave their flanks open to a downhill pursuit. He imagined that this is what occurred, with the three Briton leaders and their main body being driven back into the fort while the flanking Saxons driving forwards swept round behind the promontory on which the fort stands. A last stand in this position would explain why none of the three Briton leaders was able to escape. Burne went so far as to speculate that the battle was the starting point for [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Cornish language|Cornish]] becoming two separate languages.<ref>Alfred H. Burne, ''More Battlefields of England'' (London: Methuen, 1952).</ref>