This plaque can be found on an urn's pedestal in the north east corner of Bournehill gardens. Three faces of the urn pedestal contain inscribed words. The words of one of these faces are known and given here with a translation.
The O/S grid position is SU 14772 East 30469 North
The Urn on its pedestal in Bournehill gardens
The three Urn pedestal faces of text
Photographs of the three urn pedestal faces which have text, are shown here. To the right of one photograph is given the latin text. To the right of this there is an English translation. There is room next to the other two photographs for their latin text and English translations should anyone be able to provide them.
Hoc in Campo, Cynricus,
occidentalium Saxonum Rex,
Britannos, adeò gravi hominum
strage profligavit, ut vicinam
Urbem Sorbiodunum facile
mox expurgnaret. Hujus cladis
indicio sunt, armorum rubigino,
nec non ossium putredine confectorum,
insignes relinquiæ nuper
hic in apricum erutæ.
Ne loci saltem memoria periret,
hæc ritè dedicatur urna,
A.D. 1774.
On this field, Cynric,
King of the West Saxons,
defeated the Britons with such grave
slaughter of men that he easily captured
the neighbouring city of Sorbiodunum.
As evidence of this defeat
are the noble remains of mouldering bones
and rusty arms recently dug up here.
In order that the memory of this place may
not die, this urn is duly dedicated
AD 1774
Further Details (ref 3)
This unique memorial to a Saxon conquest in Wiltshire, tucked away in a secluded part of the Salisbury Bournehill park, commemorates a battle at Old Sarum in 552 AD. Over a century before this, Rome had withdrawn its legions from Britain leaving the island vulnerable to attacks from marauding Saxons. At first these were piratical hit and run raids. But soon the land-hungry invaders began to settle on good farmland. The Anglo- Saxon Chronicle reports the West Saxons under King Cerdic chose the shores of Southampton Water as their base. His son, Cynric, came north up the Avon valley to the ancient fortress of Old Sarum where he gained a victory over the Britons in 552 AD. Eventually the Saxons established most of the villages in south Wiltshire we know today, as well as a royal palace at Wilton. Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons, became one of the seven kingdoms of ancient Britain and ultimately its most successful. One of the roots of Britain’s monarchy lies in the power struggle that began in this part of southern England 1500 years ago. Our present royal family can trace their origins back to those Saxon kings who ultimately created England.
In 1772 buried bones and rusty fragments of weapons were discovered by workmen removing a section of the city rampart in the garden of St Edmund’s College (ref 1). At the time it was assumed that this was evidence of the battle of Old Sarum in 552 AD. This precise information of Saxon settlement comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and is challenged by some modern scholars although there is no doubt it was believed to be correct in the 18th century. Two years later, Henry Penruddocke Wyndham, in whose garden the remains had been found, decided to erect a commemorative monument. It is a squat stone urn mounted on a pedestal (ref 2).
The urn is now a Grade II listed monument. Mr Wyndham’s Urn appears to be the only public monument that records the coming of the Saxons to the Salisbury area. Its inscription presents a double problem: firstly it is in latin and secondly after two hundred years it is now worn and illegible. In these circumstances and in view of its significance it is hoped that this website will be used to tell this story for today’s people of Salisbury.
The
SALISBURY GUIDE
comprising the
HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES
of
OLD SARUM
and
The Origin and present State of
NEW SARUM, OR SALISBURY,
THE CATHEDRAL, &c.
____
Together with an accurate Description of
FONTHILL ABBEY;
Wilton, Stourhead, Longleat, and Amesbury Houses;
Wardour and Longford Castles;
Tottenham Park and Clarendon Palace, &c.
___
WITH
The going out of the Post, Coaches, and Carriers.
___
THIRTIETH EDITION,
Embellished with Views of the Cathedral Church,
Council House, and Poultry-Cross
===========
Salisbury:
Printed and published by the Compiler, J. EASTON,
Endless-street;
and may be had of all Booksellers.
_______
1825.
. .
. .
As some workmen were levelling the Gardens of
the College in the year 1771, they discovered the
mouldering bones of near thirty bodies, some um-
bones, or central pieces of ancient shields, made of
iron, and of a conical form, with thin brass banda-
ges affixed to them, by which bandages the wooden
shields were firmly secured to the arm within; an
iron sword, and the heads of several pikes or lances
of the same metal.
The remains of the wood-work of the shields are
still visible; but while the iron is so corroded by
age, that it may be easily crumbled between the
finger and thumb, the brass is as pure and perfect
as when it was first composed.
It is supposed that these are the remains of a
battle fought between Cynric, King of the West
Saxons, and the Britons, who were after a bloody
slaughter on both sides, defeated by him in the year
552. This victory was of the greatest consequence
to the West Saxon kingdom, as it brought into the
possesion of Cynric the capital British fortress of
Sorbiodunum, now called Old Sarum. In order to
commemorate this action, an urn was erected on the
spot by the late H. P. Wyndham, Esq, with the fol-
lowing inscription on it:
Hoc in Campo, Cynricus, occidentalium Saxonum
Rex, Britannos, adeò gravi hominum strage profligavit,
ut vicinam Urbem Sorbiodunum facile mox expurgnaret.
Hujus cladis indicio sunt, armorum rubigino,
nec non ossium putredine confectorum, insignes relinquiæ
nuper hic in apricum erutæ.
Ne loci saltem memoria periret, hæc ritè dedicatur
urna, A.D. 1774.
Featured in parade
The photograph below was taken in Blue Boar Row in Salisbury looking across the Row from the market place. The event is the children's pageant held on July 28th 1919. As can be seen, Cedric the saxon featured in one of the pageants.
Pathe News made a video of this parade. Click here to go to the Pathe News site and to view this video, no sound.
2. Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England)
Ancient and Historical Monuments
in the
City of Salisbury
Volumne One
(1980)
ISBN 0 11 700849 4
p.49b
In the garden [of Bournehill house] is part of a stone urn, probably of the 17th century, with guilloche decoration; the neck and foot are missing. In 1774 it was set on a pedestal inscribed to record the discovery near that place of bones and rusty armour (see E. Easton, Salisbury Guide, 1774, 39.) supposed to be evidence of Cynric's victory over the British, A.D. 552. (see Robert Benson & Henry Hatcher The History of Old and New Sarum (constituting volume vi of R.C.Hoare, History of Modern Wiltshire), 1843, 5; also Salisbury Journal 16 March, 6 April 1722.)
3. Richards, David (2011), 'Mr Wyndham's Urn, A unique memorial to Saxon conquest in Wiltshire', Salisbury Civic Society Newsletter September 2011, p.12
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