Editing Battle of Badon (section)

===Location===
Though academics have never reached any consensus, Mount Badon’s location has traditionally been sited in the hills around [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], most notably at [[Bathampton Down]]. Tim and Annette Burkitt have proposed [[Caer Badden]] ({{langx|la|Aquae Sulis}}; now [[Bath, Somerset]]), some 20 miles northeast of the Roman mines at [[Charterhouse (Roman town)|Charterhouse]], on the basis of the ''Welsh Annals'' as well as archaeological and toponymic evidence.<ref>Burkitt, Tim and Annette. "The Frontier Zone and the Siege of Mount Badon: A Review of the Evidence for their Location". Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 1990, vol. 134. pp. 81–93.</ref><ref>Burkitt, Tim and Bennett, Annette, "Badon as Bath", Popular Archaeology, April 1985, Vol. 6, No. 6.</ref>

[[File:Liddington_Castle,_Liddington,_Swindon_-_geograph.org.uk_-_624639.jpg|thumb|[[Liddington Castle]] site. The ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort can be seen at the highest point of the skyline.]]

Susan Hirst, [[Geoffrey Ashe]] and [[Michael Wood (historian)|Michael Wood]] argue for the site of [[Liddington Castle]] on the hill above [[Badbury, Wiltshire|Badbury]] ([[Old English]]: ''Baddan byrig'') in Wiltshire west of [[Swindon]]. This site, an Iron Age [[hill fort]] with signs of sub-Roman occupation, commands [[The Ridgeway]], which connects the [[River Thames]] with the [[River Avon, Devon|River Avon]] and [[River Severn]] beyond.<ref>Hirst, S. ''et al''. "Liddington Castle and the battle of Badon: Excavations and research 1976". ''Archaeological Journal''. 1996, vol. 153, pp. 1–59.</ref><ref>Ashe, Geoffrey. ''From Caesar to Arthur'', pp. 162–164.</ref><ref>Wood, Michael. ''In Search of Myths and Heroes'' (2005). pp. 219–220.</ref>  From a very different etymological approach, [[Andrew Breeze]] also put forward a site near Swindon: arguing that ''Badon'' must be etymologically [[Brittonic languages|Brythonic]] rather than English (thus eliminating Bath from consideration as its name is entirely [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]) and that Gildas's toponym (''Badonici Montis'') is a corruption of ''Bradonici Montis'', Breeze posits [[Ringsbury Camp]] near [[Braydon]] southeast of Swindon as the site of the battle.<ref>Andrew Breeze, ''British Battles 493–937: Mount Badon to Brunanburh'' (2020: Anthem Press), pp. 6–7.</ref>

The similarly named [[Badbury Rings]] in [[Dorset]] have also been argued to be the location of the battle.<ref>Carr, R. (2001), "Badbury or Badon", Dorset life, 267: 5–7.</ref> David Cooper agrees that this is the most likely site and has provided the most comprehensive analysis of the battle available to date.<ref>Cooper, David: ''Badon and the Early Wars for Wessex, circa 500 to 710'' (2018: Pen & Sword Books)</ref>