Dyrham, battle of

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Dyrham, battle of, 577. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, with remarkable detail, recorded that at Dyrham, east of Bristol, Ceawlin, king of Wessex, defeated and killed three British kings, and went on to occupy Bath, Cirencester, and Gloucester. There is little doubt that this was a major victory in the Saxon advance, cutting off the Britons in Wales from those in the south-west, even if Ceawlin was unable to hold all the territory gained.

J. A. Cannon