134 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 



line was made parallel, or was there another object in 

 view? May it not also have been because it passed just 

 north of Oxford and thereby secured complete command 

 of the Thames from its source to its mouth ? 



The coming of the English into the Coin Valley may 

 reasonably be assumed to have quickly followed the 

 famous battle of Deorham, in 577. Dr Guest's*" view is 

 that when the Saxons first entered Gloucestershire they 

 came from the Marlborough Downs across the Cottes- 

 wolds to the Foss Way a few miles south of Cirencester, 

 and then marched down the famous Roman highway in 

 the direction of Bath. It is generally believed that after 

 the battle they at once descended into the Severn Valley 

 and marched northward. Is it not much more likely that 

 they kept to the high ground of the Cotteswolds ? By 

 doing so they would have protected their lines of com- 

 munication with their base in Wiltshire, while a descent 

 into the valley might have hemmed them in between 

 fierce enemies on the one hand and the broad waters of 

 the Severn on the other. By quickly retracing their steps 

 they would be able to prevent their scattered foes from 

 again collecting in dangerous force, and with the plateau 

 conquered and reinforcements close at hand if required, 

 the conquest of the lower part of the Severn Valley would 

 be a comparatively easy task. The language of the 

 Chronicle, too, bears out this theory, for after recording 

 that Cuthwine and Ceawlin slew three Kings, it adds that 

 "they took three cities, Gleawanceaster and Cirenceaster 

 and Bathanceaster." Clearly, therefore, the invaders 

 went to Cirencester on their Northward march. 



Some light is thrown upon the early Saxon occupation 

 of the Cotteswolds by an examination of the boundaries 



* '• Origines Celtics," 11., p. 182. 



