There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the process of settlement drift,
common throughout lowland England in the Anglo-Saxon period, came to an end in
the tenth century. Excavations have rarely been large enough to prove this point, but the
large-scale landscape project at West Heslerton provides another example where this
seems to be the case (Powlesland 2000 ).
The Scandinavian settlement also brought major changes to towns in and provided a
stimulus for the largest urban regeneration since Britain under the Romans (Richards
2004 a: 78 – 108 ). In the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex systems of
fortified towns, or burhs, were established in response to the Viking threat. They also
functioned as civil and ecclesiastical administrative centres, and, in some, mints were
established. In some cases, such as at Chester, Gloucester, Exeter and Winchester,
Roman sites were refortified; in other cases, such as Langport, Wilton and Lydford,
natural defences were used. Elsewhere, such as at Cricklade, Wallingford and Oxford,
new defences were constructed based upon Roman models. Many burhs were established
on rivers, often at bridging points. Many became important markets; at Chester a
community of Hiberno-Norse traders settled between the Roman fort and the River
Dee, where they constructed cellared buildings (Mason 1985 ).
Although Viking raids initially disrupted trade which had been organised through
the urban markets or wics, at places such as Hamwic (Southampton), Lundenwic (London)
and Eoforwic (York), these towns flourished in the tenth century. In most cases the
trading sites were brought within, or adjacent to, the walls of the old Roman forts,
and were then subject to rapid development. York is the best-known example (see Hall,
ch. 27. 2 , below), although these towns were not necessarily always run by Scandinavian
rulers and traders.
In the East Midlands the Danes established a series of urban strongholds, described as
the Five Boroughs, comprising Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford
(Hall 1989 ). Excavations have failed to reveal anything specifically Scandinavian about
these towns and they may have been based upon Anglo-Saxon models. The best evidence
comes from Lincoln, which lacks the regularity of the Wessex burhs, but still represents a
planned development of streets and tenements. Several new industries developed, such
as the production of glazed Stamford ware pottery, which may have resulted from skilled
immigrant potters moving in with the Scandinavian traders. But industrialisation was
not a direct result of Viking settlement. Throughout England specialised crafts which
had hitherto been under the control of rural estates, were replaced by town-based
industrialised mass production, and a little-known class of rural markets, the so-called
‘productive’ sites, went into decline (Pestell and Ulmschneider 2003 ).
In England, therefore, there was a complex process of interaction between incoming
Scandinavians, or those of mixed Hiberno-Norse descent, and indigenous Anglo-Saxon
inhabitants. This continued for some 300 years. As fresh archaeological finds provide
greater resolution it is becoming possible to observe a variety of colonisation strategies
and a range of responses, including both regional and chronological variation.
BIBLIOGRAPHYBailey, R. ( 1980 ) Viking Age Sculpture in Northern England, London: Collins.
Batey, C.E. ( 1995 ) ‘Aspects of rural settlement in northern Britain’, in D. Hooke and S. Burnell
(eds) Landscape and Settlement in Britain ad 400 – 1066 , Exeter: Exeter University Press.
–– Julian D. Richards––