"This Manor hath an especial addition of Elmett, why so called we
could not be sure."
Thus recorded representatives of the City of London, on undertaking a
survey in the autumn of 1628. Nearly a thousand years earlier, they would
have encountered the local 'Elmed Saetna', the Elmet dwellers, a name
applied to the former inhabitants of the ancient Kingdom of Elmet.
Elmet was one of a number of small independent kingdoms to emerge at the
end of the Roman period. Embracing the present West Riding of Yorkshire, the
region, at the height of its powers, is believed to have extended
from the headwaters of the Humber, across to the Pennine foothills in the
west, with its southern border reaching to the banks of the River Sheaf
(Sheaf meaning boundary and from which Sheffield derives its name) and the
River Don. High Melton-in-Elmet (see later) lay just north of the River Don.
The short lived British kingdom of Dunoting
(Craven) is believed to have formed the
north-western boundary of Elmet.
[Elmet may have come as far south as the River Don which is the most
probable southern boundary of Northumbria
(after the amalgamation of Deira,
and the conquest of Elmet). In that context, the line of Grimes or Grim's
Dyke can be traced to the iron age fort at Winkobank or the nearby Roman
fort at Templeborough Rotherham on the river Don. John Warburton's map of
1720 shows this as a Roman Road and the 1854 Ordnance Survey shows the line
of the dyke north of Woodlesford as a Roman Road running along Street Lane.
[At its greatest extent Northumbria may have reached to Whitwell Gap
west of Worksop. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 942 tells of King Edmund
overcoming Mercia as far as Whitwell Gap, Dore (near Sheffield) and the
river Humber. From the low hills near Whitwell Gap it is possible to see
Dore on the high land to the northwest, and the hills that overlook the
Humber to the northeast. This would make a good visual boundary between
Mercia and Northumbria. The village of Wales a few miles south of the river
Don close to Morthen shows that the British Celts were present in that area
for many years - RW.]
Evidence of the one-time kingdom is relatively sparse, typical of Dark Age
history, basically deriving from interpretation of literary sources, place
names and the limited archaeological findings. Original literary knowledge
of the period has been gleaned from the writings of Gildas (a British monk),
Nennius (a British scholar to whom the 'Historia Brittonum' - the History of
the Britons - is attributed), and poems of the British bards such as
Taliesin and Aneirin, a king and court poet, together with the writings of
the Venerable Bede of Jarrow (AD673-735).
The period was one of migration, settlement and the eventual colonisation by
the English speaking Anglo-Saxons of Germanic origin; one of the outcomes of
which was the renaming of the country to 'England - Land of the Angles'. One
scribe describes the events of those times:
"The rivers united in the estuary of the Humber led like open
highways into the heart of Britain, and it was by this inlet that the great
mass of invaders penetrated into the interior of the island. Those warriors
who had entered the Humber turned southwards by the Forest of Elmet which
covered the district around Leeds."
In the sixth century, the Anglo-Saxons occupying territory to the east
of Elmet (the East Riding) formed the kingdom of Deira, those to the north Bernicia, whilst the Angles of Mercia lay in the south and Midlands. Elmet
was then, for some time, at the forefront of British territory, forming a
bridgehead separating Angles of the Midlands from those occupying the Plain
It is claimed that the westward expansion of the English was long delayed by
the Britons of Elmet, and it was not until the early part of the seventh
century that the Angles were able to continue their westward migration to
settle in the valleys of the Aire and Wharfe. For a period Elmet was
sufficiently powerful to withstand Anglian pressure, whether from Deira,
Bernicia or Mercia.
The poet Taliesin writes in praise of a number of British rulers, including Guallauc, named as a judge (or ruler) over Elmet, "A skilled warrior,
allied with other British kings in the north against the English". Said
to be beloved by his retinue, "He inspired terror from Dumbarton [Alt Clut]
borders of mid-Wales and, according to Taliesin, also vexed the inhabitants
About AD 600, a warband of some 300 (or 363 - references quote both figures)
nobles and warriors, plus foot soldiers, including a certain Madog of Elmet,
and drawn from numerous British regions, assembled at Edinburgh (region of
Gododdin). This force attempted to recapture Catterick, and thereby prevent
the merger of the English kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. The disastrous
defeat of the British, who were annihilated in the encounter, by the larger
heathen force, is lamented in 'the Gododdin', an elegy composed by the poet
Thereafter, with its military power considerably weakened, Elmet became
isolated and more vulnerable; its fate virtually sealed when the Angles of
Deira and Bernicia united to form the powerful kingdom of Northumbria, which
extended its influence across the Pennines. The eventual demise of the Kingdom of Elmet is recorded by Nennius: "Edwin, (ruler of Northumbria)
. . . reigned for seventeen years and he occupied Elmet and expelled Ceretic
(son of Guallauc), the king of this region".
A factor contributing to Elmet's downfall is attributed to a feud between
the king, Ceretic, and the Northumbrian ruler Edwin. Edwin's nephew, Hereric,
having been driven into exile is alleged to have died of poisoning while
taking refuge within the kingdom of Elmet. Whether the annexation of Elmet
was motivated by revenge and/or territorial gain, its existence as an
independent kingdom ceased in AD 617.
Edwin, baptised by Paulinus (an emissary of Rome and a prominent British
ecclesiastic) at York on Easter Day in AD 627, became the first Christian
King of Northumbria. He was later killed at the Battle of Hatfield Chase,
against the Mercian ruler, Penda, in AD 633. Thereafter it is recorded that
"Penda took over Edwin's lands and reigned there for some twenty
A struggle for supremacy ensued between the Mercian king, Penda, and the
ruler of Northumbria, which ended when Penda was decisively beaten by Oswiu
at the Battle of Winwaed in AD 654 (see 'The Barwicker' No.1). According to
Bede - "King Oswiu brought the campaign to a close in the 'regio Loidis'
in the thirteenth year of his reign".
Elmet's eventual decline in regional importance has been assessed from the
contents of a seventh century document, 'The Tribal Hidage', attributed to
the Mercian ruler Offa. This provides a list of folk-groups or tribes
incorporated in the Mercian kingdom; each group being assessed for payment
of dues or taxation, at a round number of hides, a primitive form of land
division. The group occupying the former Celtic kingdom of Elmet - the Elmed
Saetna, the Elmet dwellers - was rated at 600 hides, being placed with 'the
Peak Dwellers' with 1200 hides and 'the men of Lindsey-with-Hatfield' with
7000 hides. It has been estimated that at the time of the assessment, Elmet
was much reduced from its former regional extent and had also become subject
to Mercian rule, as a result of that kingdom's increased supremacy.
That Elmet continued to be recognised as a region long after AD 617, is
confirmed by entries contained in a directory written in Italian text, in circa
1315. This document located in one of the Florentine libraries, deals with
the English wool trade, in particular that aspect concerning monasteries and
Yorkshire abbeys, an undertaking of national importance. A list of towns and
regions is recorded presumably markets, through which wool surplus to the
needs of the abbey and monasteries are traded. The list includes:
d'Elmetta (Elmet) 11 marks per sack
Di Ledesia (Leeds) 12½ marks per sack
di Tresche (Thirsk) 10½ marks per sack
de Vervicche (York) 10½ marks per sack.
A mark was nominally 13s.4d. and a sack was a unit of weight equalling
26 stone or 364 lbs of wool.
Some features of Elmet will now be considered in more detail.
1 Loidis and Campodonum
The regional name of Loidis is preserved in the place name 'Leeds' and
forms an element in the names of Ledston (tun - a settlement in Loidis),
Ledsham (ham - a homestead in Loidis) and possibly Lead. Loidis as a region
is believed at one period to have formed an administrative sub-division of
Elmet, comparable in area to the combined wapentakes of Skyrack and Barkston
Ash. The term 'wapentake' (of Scandinavian origin) was used in the north as
referring to an administrative or regional unit. Bede on writing of Paulinus'
". . . in Campodonum, where there was then a villa regia, he (Paulinus)
built a church which was afterwards burnt down, together with the whole of
the buildings, by the heathens who slew King Edwin. In its stead, later
kings built a dwelling for themselves in the region known as Loidis. The
altar escaped from the fire, because it was of stone, and is still preserved
in the monastery of the most reverend abbot and priest Thrythwulf, which is
in the forest of Elmet".
In this account Campodonum is named as the site of a church built by
Paulinus and of a villa regia, probably established by Edwin. These
buildings were burnt down by Penda of Mercia (described by one scribe as a
'convinced pagan') after his defeat of Edwin in AD 633.
The whereabouts of Campodonum and Thrythwulf's monastery has been the
subject of much scholarly debate. There is evidence to suggest that
Campodonum could have been located in or near Leeds. The disposition of
Grim's Ditch earthworks (see section 3) a possible Anglo-Saxon burial and the
application of the district name 'Loidis' to Leeds as a place name, all tend
to indicate that the place was occupied, and of some importance in the
seventh century, and so would seem the best candidate for the site of
Paulinus' church and Edwin's villa regia of Campodonum. If however Leeds is
considered to have been one of the major centres of Elmet, the possibility
of uncovering archaeological evidence is now remote.
2 The Importance of Water/Holy Wells
The Celts observed the practice of regarding water and in particular
wells, (believed to give access to the underworld) as having sacred
qualities. With the conversion to Christianity, the pagan deities to whom
the wells were dedicated were 'converted' to Holy Wells and replaced by a
Christian saint - St Helen and Our Lady, being popular names. St Helen's
Well at Thorp Arch, for example continued to be venerated until recent
times. Others included Lady Well Close, Roundhay, and Holywell, Shadwell.
[There is a St Helen's well at Monk Bretton near Barnsley, and ruins of
a St Helens Chapel or Chantry at Barnborough east of Barnsley. Close by
there is a Ludwell Hill, probably relating to the Celtic deity Lud. There is
a Lady Well mentioned at Brierley in my on line Booklet 'Brereley a History
of Brierley - RW.]