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Battle of Corbridge

10th century in England910s conflicts918Anglo-Norse EnglandBattles involving Scotland
Battles involving the Anglo-SaxonsBattles involving the VikingsCorbridgeMilitary history of Northumberland

The Battle of Corbridge took place on the banks of the River Tyne near the village of Corbridge in Northumberland in the year 918. The battle was referenced in the Annals of Ulster and the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba. The battle was fought between Norse-Gael leader Ragnall ua Ímair and his allies against the forces of Constantín mac Áeda, King of Scotland together with those of Ealdred I of Bamburgh who had previously been driven from his lands by Ragnall. The Historia de Sancto Cuthberto adds that English fought alongside Norsemen. The Annals of Ulster informs us that the Norse army divided itself into four columns, in one of which may have been Jarl Ottir Iarla, a long-time ally of Ragnall.The Scots destroyed the first three columns, but were ambushed by the last. This unit had remained hidden behind a hill and was commanded by Ragnall. The Scots, however, managed to escape without disaster. It seems that it was an indecisive engagement, although it did allow Ragnall to further establish himself in Northumbria. In 919, Ragnall descended on York where he took the city and had himself proclaimed king. The Bernicians remained under him, although Ealdred I of Bamburgh and Domnall I, king of Strathclyde, paid homage to the king of England.In 1950, F. T. Wainwright argued that there were two battles of Corbridge in 914 and 918, and his view was widely accepted for over fifty years, but since around 2006 historians have taken the view that there was only one battle in 918.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Battle of Corbridge (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Battle of Corbridge
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N 54.974092 ° E -2.017064 °
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NE45 5AD
England, United Kingdom
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Corbridge Lion
Corbridge Lion

The Corbridge Lion, Northumberland, England, is an ancient Roman free-standing sandstone sculpture of a male lion standing on a prone animal (possibly a deer) on a semi-cylindrical coping stone base. Measuring 0.95m in length by 0.36m in width and 0.87m high, it was originally a piece of decorative funerary ornamentation from a tomb. It was subsequently re-used as a fountainhead by passing a water pipe through its mouth. It was found in a water tank in 1907 in excavations led by Leonard Woolley on Site II (a corridor building with tesselated floors, hypocausts, and painted wallplaster that has been suggested as a mansio or posting station) on the Roman site at Corbridge. It is believed to date to the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD.Woolley noted that it was found whilst he was at the bank in Corbridge collecting the workers' wages, and that when they revealed their discovery to him upon his return, the man who excavated it commented "when I first saw that there lion he had a blooming orange in 'is mouth!".At least four other stone lions have been found at Corbridge: two were excavated in association with the enclosure wall around a 2nd-century mausoleum at Shorden Brae, in the cemetery just west of the Roman town, one was found built into a wall in the village, and another (now lost) was in a private museum owned by Bartholomew Lumley during the early 19th century.The Corbridge Lion is now on display in the Corbridge Roman site museum run by English Heritage.