west country holiday accommodation
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Lynton, lynmouth, b&b, north, devon, bed, breakfast, hotel, guesthouse, holidays, serviced, accommodation, west country, guest house, exmoor, guesthouse, west country holiday accommodation
Britain was invaded by many different tribes of people. From about 500 BC onwards the Celts inhabited Britain with those living in the north called Gaels and those living in the south called Britons. It is commonly believed that these people were peasant farmers who had come to Britain from across the Channel and who lived in tribes and clans.
Farming Exmoor and the land around it must have been hard and unrewarding. The primitive shelters they built could not have been much protection against the weather and the wild animals. We know from excavations that animals such as wolves, wild cats, hyenas and bears roamed wild (and further back in time rhinoceros, elephants and cave lions).
Life probably continued in much the same way for hundreds of years. Traders came from across the Channel, pirates and other invaders, too. Julius Caesar first invaded Britain in 54 BC although the actual conquest of the country did not take place until nearly a hundred years later.
The Celtic kingdom of the Dumonii—Cornwall, Devon and western Somerset—saw a fairly peaceful period under the Romans. Then, in 400 AD the Roman soldiers were called back to defend Rome against the attacks of the Goths, leaving Britain wide open for the next invaders of Britain, the Anglo Saxons who made regular attacks from 449 AD onwards. Finally, after many years the Saxons drove the Britons to Cornwall, Wales and Brittany almost bringing to an end the ancient kingdom of the Dumonii in England.
The Saxons founded kingdoms of their own naming them Wessex, Sussex, Essex, Middlesex and Mercia. The Angles founded the eastern kingdom of Northumbria and East Anglia finally giving their name to the land which they had conquered calling it Angleland.
The Anglo Saxons settled down to farming the country and lived in farms protected by a stockade and a moat. Those of the original Britons who were left were pushed out to less fertile parts of Devon whilst the Saxons took over the more fertile land.
Life continued so be hard with warfare between the tribes, plagues and the hard, hard winters to contend with. The most notable event of the period—which changed the life of the whole country—was the arrival of St. Augustine in 597 AD. The invasion of the country by the Anglo Saxons, and the gradual conversion of the tribes to Christianity, is told by the Venerable Beds (673 to 735) in the first English history book ever written.
So life continued for another two hundred years until the Danes arrived on the scene and made repeated attacks on Britain. They became bolder as the years went by until the attacks come as far west as Devon. This was the period when Alfred became king of Wessex from 971 AD and engaged in frequent battles with the Danes until in 879 peace was made and the Danish King Guthrain was baptised as a Christian.
After brief raids in 993 there was no more trouble for ninety years, a lifetime of peace for some people, and then the Danes renewed their attacks on England. The King (for by this time there was a king of all England) massacred Danes living in England and the invading Danes made a great attack. Ethelred, the king, fled so France and finally the Danish King, Canute, added England to his Scandinavian empire reigning from 1016 to 1035 AD.