823 AD

As dawn broke, from the shadowy mists along the banks of the rise, the Celts massed near the ancient town of Exeter. By the thousands they had come, from Cornwall in the west and Wales to the north, to stand in the land of the Dumnonii,to fight the hated invaders, the Angles and Saxons, those foreigners trying to take their lands from them, as they had once seized them many long decades before from Brits and Picts. The problem was the local tribes, the largest of the Celtic groups, the Dumnonii, inhabitants of Dumnonia (Devon), were allies of the Saxons, not the West Celts. Dumnonia had fallen to Egbert and the Saxons back in 802 and was ruled by them.

Dumnonia's principal town, Exeter, lay to the northeast. Twenty-one years ago the Saxons had first come here to fight with the Celts. The Dumnonii had stood and fought, but the Saxons had overrun them. then no help had come from the Welsh and Cornish tribes. Over the years, the Dumnonii had bred into the Saxon, paid tribute to their Saxon lords, and now served the Saxon overlords.

They massed on the Down and formed the shield wall, locking their shields and readying themselves. They could see their enemies coming from the east now. Six or more to one they were outnumbered, but still they stood and waited. They were Celts, descendants of Gaul. They had held off the Romans and kept their tribal lands mostly independent and they would beat back the encroaching Saxons too.

Year after year the Saxons had come from the east and every year they took more and more land. Every year more and more Saxons appeared and less and less Celts survived. Still they fought on. It was their way and this was their land. Though the tribes rarely fought together, today they united against the common foe. Here on the Down they would stand in the wall. Here by the river's ford, they would show the Saxon the might of the Celtic swords and bows.

Dawn broke, the shadows lifted, and the Saxon shield wall had formed up and was pressing forward. It was longer than the Celts' and there were many in reserve, with two or three lines following the first one forward. Soon the two shield walls came together and sword and shield clashed. All along the walls men lunged, pushed and stabbed, seeking an advantage, trying to push forward, attempting to drop their adversaries and collapse their wall. All morning the walls held and the fighting was at a stalemate. It appeared the mighty Saxon force would not go west any further this day.

By mid-day the Saxons lead by King Egbert were engaged the entire length of the shield wall. The Celtic tribes, though greatly outnumbered were holding the high ground along the Down.

One Celtic leader, for whom the battleground would later be known for, was from the Dumnonii, one of the major tribes of western Britain, and he was named Gaflffordd. The Dumnonii were a large contingent in the fighting force that day and Gaflffordd was a local leader of the Dumnonii, most likely the landholder of the battlefield, leading his men on their shield wall. Given that the battle occurred on his lands and the Dumnonii provided a large number of troops to the battle, tradition suggests, Gaflffordd occupied a position somewhere in the middle of the shield wall that day, a position of some honor, normally left of the king. However, this day he lead them against other Celts.

Early in the afternoon, the Saxons and their Dumnonii allies renewed their efforts and pressed their advantage in numbers against the shield wall. Slowly as the afternoon began, the sheer force exerted by the Saxons began to force the Celts back. The wall began to break in spots and men started to fall as their legs were cut from under them, their shields were knocked aside, or they were simply overwhelmed by the power of the Saxons. As they fell, the second line killed them where they lie. The front line kept moving forward. As this occurred, the ends of the Saxon shield walls started to turn toward the center, bending the Celts into an arc,pushing them into a closing circle.

By mid-afternoon, the outcome of the battle was obvious. The Saxons were overrunning the Celtic wall and the Celts were breaking and running from the field of battle. Cornish and Welsh fighters fell, died, or ran to save themselves. Ten thousand had come to do battle, but over half would die that day on the Down and half again would be killed over the next few weeks, as Egbert's son with 40,000 men kept the pursue up, chasing them into Wales and Cornwall.

Never again did the Celts of Wales and Cornwall mount a full out army to stand against the Saxons. From that point forward, they became mercenaries, bandits, and guerrilla fighters, incapable of a complete defense of their homelands. Eventually they faded into history, back into the shadows.

As for the Celtic leader, Gaflffordd, he lived on after the battle. History shows his ancestors becoming Saxons and, using the Saxon name Gavulford. Eventually the descendants would settle on a slightly different spelling, a "place name", meaning Gaul's ford, the place by the river where people crossed, where a mighty battle occurred in 823 AD.

For fifty years following the battle at the Down, Egbert and his sons enjoyed peaceful rule in southern England from Kent across to Cornwall, including Wessex.