The Ancient River Tumulus Field

This old map section has been introduced into the section to show you that a ancient battle between the Saxons and the Danish Vikings did take place close to where Battlemead house in Maidenhead Court now stands. There is a lot of history in this area of the Thames Valley that still lies burried.

During the 5th century, this was not the now peaceful area of the Thames Valley in the Cliveden Reach of the River Thames was the scene of a battle, not a full-scale battle to be found in history books. Most likely it would be termed in modern warfare as a skirmish between the resident Anglo Saxons and a Viking raiding party that had sailed up the river.

Up until the late 1940’s there were three distinct barrows or tumuli to be seen at the location of the yellow pin. All these fields for years had been left undisturbed as water meadows, some closer to the river for first flush grazing; the remainder for hay of a fine texture and quality of grass and herb mixture suitable for calf rearing.

Then came a change of policy with farm management and the fields were knocked into larger pastures and eventually put under the plough; something that had never happened in centuries. The dragging of heavy cultivators over the tumuli has erased what could be seen of them. Only the yellow pin is there to mark the spot.

On the old farm map of fields there were two fields side by side called the Upper and Lower Tumulus.