Full List of Brunanburh Battlefield Candidates
During the development of our Brunanburh-Wigan theory - explained here - we researched dozens of other Brunanburh battlefield location theories. As far as we know, until now there has been no comprehensive list. It might help others in their research, and to verify/debunk our theory, if we list them. There are forty-six different locations, including Wigan. Eight of them are listed separately, either because we cannot find the battlefield place name, or because they are referenced indirectly and we cannot find the original paper. Lastly, we list five Brunanburh battlefield analyses that we have not seen. They might propose more battlefields or contain information on those we cannot find. If you spot any errors in these lists, or if you can help with the lost references, please feel free to contact us: momentousbritain@outlook.com.
Verified Brunanburh battlefield candidates
Aldborough (on the Ouse) - William Forbes Skene, Celtic Scotland (Vol 1), 1886
Axminster, Devon - (1) John Leland, Itineraries Vol 1, 1540; (2) Daniel Lysons, Magna Britannia, 1822
Bamber Bridge / Brownedge (near Preston) - Charles Hardwick, History of the Borough of Preston and Its Environs, 1857
Bamford (near Rochdale) - Charles Hardwick, History of the Borough of Preston and Its Environs, 1857
Barton-upon-Humber - (1) William Smith Hesleden (later Hesledon), Account of the ancient earthworks at Barton-upon-Humber and conjectures relating to the site of the Battle of Brunanburh, Transactions of the British Archeological Association, London, 1846; (2) Robert Brown Jnr, Notes on the Earlier History of Barton-on-Humber, 1906
Bourne, Lincs - (1) Sir James Ramsay, Foundations of England, 1898; (2) Cyril Hart, Danelaw, 1992
Bourne, Lancashire - Edward Baines, History of the palatine and duchy of Lancaster, 1836
Boroughbridge (near Ripon) - Rev S Baring Gould, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 22, 1908
Bramham Moor, Yorkshire - Pearson, Bramham Moor and the Red, White and Brown Battles, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal (Vol. 67), 1995
Brancepeth - Bosworth Toller, An Anglo-Saxon dictionary (“on the plain between the river Tyne and the Browney, 5 miles southwest of Durham”. Presumably means between Wear and Browney), 1848
Breandown (Brean Down), Somerset - C. Bulleid, Battle of Brunanburh at Breandune, Notes and Queries Somerset and Dorset (Vol 5), 1888
Brinkburn - Francis Grose, The Beauties of England and Wales Vol XII, Part 1 Northumbria, 1813
Brinsworth (Rotherham), referred to as Brunesburh by Cockburn - (1) Armitage Goodall, Place-names of South-west Yorkshire, 1913; (2) J H Cockburn, Brunanburh Elucidated by Place-Names, 1938; (3) A. H. Burne, The Battlefields of England, 1950; (4) Michael Wood, In search of England : journeys into the English past; 2000
Bromborough - (1) Edmund Gibson; Chronicon Saxonicum; 1692; (2) Thomas Baines, Lancashire and Cheshire, past and present, 1867; (3) Ordnance Survey (below), 1872; (4) David P Gregg, The Battlefield of Brunanburh, 2021
Bromeridge, Northumbria - (1) William Camden, Britannia (“Brumridg near Brumeford in Northumbria”), 1600; (2) James Tyrrell, The General History of England, 1700
Brompton (near Northallerton) - Where was the battlefield of Brunanburh really?; Kirsten Møller; 2022
Bromswold - Alfred P. Smyth, Scandinavian York and Dublin, 1979
Broomfield/Bromfield (five miles north of Taunton) - Walter de Gray Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum, 1885
Brough - Adrian C Grant, Locating the site of the Battle of Brunanburh (937), 2019
Brown Hill, Dumbartonshire - O G S Crawford, Antiquity, 1934
Brumby, Lincs; (1) Rev J Ingram, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translation, 1823; (2) John Allen Giles, Old English Chronicles, 1912; (3) John Allen Giles, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Translation, 1914
Bruna Hill (near Preston) - Tim Clarkson, Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age, 2005
Bruneswald, Northamptonshire - Alfred P. Smyth, Scandinavian York & Dublin, the History and Archaeology of Two Related Viking Kingdoms. Vol. 2, 1979
Brunton - Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons (explains that Camden thought it was at Ford near Bromeridge), 1820
Burghwallis - Michael Wood, Searching for Brunanburh: The Yorkshire Context of the 'Great War' of 937, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal (Vol 85/1), 2013
Burnby (between Market Weighton and Pocklington) - H F Napper, The Battle of Brunanburh, A.D. 938, Notes and Queries Somerset and Dorset (Vol 5), 1888
Burnham, North Lincs - Rev Alfred Hunt, Brunanberh [sic]: A.D. 937 : identification of this battle site in North Lincolnshire, 1905; Saga-Book of the Viking Club, 1905;
Burnley - (1) T T Wilkinson, On the Battle of Brunanburh and its site; Transactions of the Historic Society of Manchester, 1856; (2) Jas. T. Marquis, Brunanburh, Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (XXII), 1909; (3) S W Partington, The Danes in Lancashire and Yorkshire, 1909; (4) Damien Bullen, The Burnley Brunanburh, Academia
Burn Naze (Fylde) - John R. Kirby, Identifying Brúnanburh: ón dyngesmere – the sea of noise, 2019
Burnswark (near Bishop Aukland) - (1) George Neilson, Annals of the Solway Until A.D. 1300, & Brunanburh and Burnswork; The Scottish Historical Review (vol. 7, no. 25); 1899; (2) Thomas Hodgkin, The History of England Vol 1; 1906, first printed in The Political History of England edited by William Hunt, 1905
Elslack (Broughton) - James Wilson, The Scottish Historical Review, 1910
Harrogate - J H Turner, On the Northumbrian Names of Brunanburh and Berwick, Notes and Queries (Vol 8 Issue 192), 1871
Hunwick - Stefán Björnsson & Björn Vernharðsson, Brunanburh located through Egil’s Saga, 2020
Kirkburn (near Driffield), Yorkshire - Mr Holderness, Bulmer’s History and Directory of East Yorkshire, 1892
Lanchester (Longovicium) - Andrew Breeze, British Battles 493 – 937, 2020
Londesborough - Sally A England, The Battle of Brunanburh, The Archaeological Forum Journal CBA Yorkshire, 2013
Little Weighton - C Staniland Wake, The Battle of Brunaburh, The Antiquary (Vol 12), 1885
Wigan - Jonathan Starkey, The Battle of Brunanburh at Wigan, 2022
Unverified Brunanburh battlefield candidates
Browney - quoted by Kirby; Edwin Guest. 1838 History of English Rhythms. Vol II London, Will. Pickering. Guest chose Browney.
Bromfield, Cumberland - quoted by Armitage Goodall in Place-names of South-west Yorkshire
Dunbar - quoted by Paul Hill in Age of Athelstan as seen in John Henry Cockburn’s 1931 book, ‘The Battle of Brunanburh and its Period elucidated by Place-Names’
Brumford, Northumbria - quoted by Paul Hill in Age of Athelstan as seen in John Henry Cockburn’s 1931 book, ‘The Battle of Brunanburh and its Period elucidated by Place-Names’
Bamburgh - quoted by Paul Hill in Age of Athelstan as seen in John Henry Cockburn’s 1931 book, ‘The Battle of Brunanburh and its Period elucidated by Place-Names’
Kilmington and Warlington, Devon - quoted by Notes & Queries for Somerset and Dorset, 1888
Brunanbeorh, near Beverley - C H Pearson, Beverley, pre-1885
Brunesburh-on-Humber - Peter Langtoft, pre-1885
Unseen Brunanburh battlefield analyses
John Charles Norwood; Brunanburh, an attempt to identify the site; Glasgow; 1922
Todd Charles Spilman; The Battle of Brunanburgh: its cause, history and site; Hull; 1875
Bryant H E; A lost battlefield: the site of the battle of Brunanburh; Lincolnshire magazine 1
Stewart C. Black; Scottish battles; Glasgow: Brown Son & Ferguson, 1936
Kenneth Harrison; “A note on the battle of Brunaburh”; Durham Archaeology 1; 1983