Gafulford
Gafulford (alternatively Gafulforda, Gafolforda or Gavelford) is the site of a battle in South West England known from the first entry in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" for 823 AD (usually corrected to 825 AD): "Her waes Weala gefeoht Defna aet Gafulford". A translation is: "there was a fight between the Weala and the Defna at Gafulford". The whereabouts of Gafulford is not known today, though it is generally assumed to be in the west of Devon or the east of Cornwall. Of the several locations that have been proposed, Camelford in Cornwall and Galford near Lew Trenchard in West  Devon have had the widest acceptance. Historical setting. The battle at Gafulford was one of a series of encounters between the British ("Wealas") and the Saxons (here called "Defnas") that took place during the westward expansion of the Saxons under King Egbert, ruler of Wessex from 802 to 839 AD. It is known, on the basis of charters that he signed, that Egbert was at Crediton on 19 August 825, and he was in Southampton by 26 December 825. Not long afterwards he went on to defeat the Mercians at the Battle of Ellandun. Suggested locations. Camelford. Early historians and  writers assumed that Gafulford was at the present day town of Camelford in East Cornwall. The poet John Milton was an early supporter of this theory, in his "History of Britain" of 1670. In 1848 John Allen Giles wrote in his book "The Life and Times of Alfred the Great" that, "About the same time that this engagement Ellendunn was fought on the borders of Mercia, the Britons of Cornwall rebelled, and assailed the West-Saxons in the rear: but the men of Devonshire mustered in large numbers and met the enemy at Camelford: a furious conflict ensued, apparently with  little advantage to either party, for, whilst most of the Chroniclers omit to state on which side the victory fell, Florence of Worcester alone tells us that the Britons were defeated, and Henry of Huntingdon says that many thousands were slain on both sides." More recently Ralph Whitlock wrote in "The Warrior Kings of Saxon England" (1991): "The 'Wala' are held to be the Britons (Welsh), the 'Defna' the people of Devonshire, and 'Gafulford' has been tentatively identified as Camelford." Camelford was also one of the supposed locations of the final battle between King Arthur and Mordred. Galford. Most recent  historians prefer attribution to Galford on the River Lew near Lew Trenchard in West Devon. Sabine Baring-Gould was the first to make this suggestion. Robert Higham, in his book "Making Anglo-Saxon Devon" (2008), points out the derivation of the name is "Gafol-ford" meaning "tax/tribute ford", and based on this derivation, he goes on to say that the location may have been a meeting place where either the West Saxons exacted tribute from the Cornish kings, or where tolls were levied on trade between the two territories. It had already been pointed out that such a location  might well be a place where a dispute leading to fighting could arise. Higham also states that the battle may have been an influence on the early development of the nearby town of Lydford, which, as the westernmost burh in Wessex, suggests that the West Saxons did not consider Cornwall to be a defensible part of their kingdom. Other locations. Several other locations have been proposed: Other interpretations. Commentators have pointed out that although it is known that King Egbert was pushing west into Devon and Cornwall at that time, the "Anglo Saxon Chronicle" does not state that he was  present at this battle – Higham says the men of Devon ("Defna") may have been led by their ealdorman. It has also been pointed out that there is no mention of who won the battle, though it has generally been assumed that it was the invading Defnas. The incident has also been presented as a raid by the Cornish into Devon.