Wirral's Viking Trail

Gamul Terrace and the Viking Connection On Lower Bridge Street, Chester, just opposite St Olave's Church, is the raised Gamul Terrace, which now houses the Brewery Tap public house (the former Gamul House) and a number of private homes. Gamul House was the home of Sir Francis Gamull (1606-1654), a mayor of Chester and prominent royalist during the Civil War. The name Gamul derives from a Norse personal name. It is therefore an intriguing coincidence that Gamul Terrace sits at the heart of Viking-age Chester. This short article summarises recent research on the Vikings in Wirral, their expansion towards Chester and proposes a context for the name Gamul. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/-sczsteve/JCAS_ns_086.pdf Originally published in the  Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society new ser 86 , 2016, 97-108

  Viking Thingwall AD 902-3 Vikings arrive and settle in Wirral Around the year AD 902, a group of Vikings of primarily Norwegian descent came to settle in Wirral after being driven out of Ireland and then Anglesey. This initiated a mass migration of their fellow countrymen into the area and they soon established a community with its own leader, Ingimund, its own language – Old Norse (perhaps with an Irish accent), a trading port at Meols and, at the centre, a place of assembly or government – the Thing (or þing ) at Thingwall (ON þingvǫllr, from Þing = assembly and vǫllr = field, “Assembly Field”). Things provided the method of government throughout Norway and the Scandinavian community. Wirral Thingwall is one of only two definite Thingwall place names in England.   Ingimund’s deal with Queen Aethelflaed The arrival of Viking settlers into Wirral is recorded in Irish Chronicles, reinforced by Welsh and Anglo Saxon records (the refortification of Chester shortly afte...

  So what happened to the Vikings who settled on Wirral in the tenth century? It’s frustrating that they left behind no written records. However, some records of Viking names have survived from the late 11 th century. 1066 must be one of the most famous years in British history. William of Normandy defeated the English King Harold at the Battle of Hastings – the Normans had arrived. William set about confiscating lands and giving them to his followers. Not surprisingly, many of the existing landowners rebelled, so William waged a series of campaigns in the winter of 1069/70 to subjugate the Anglo-Scandinavians in the north of the country. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles describe William’s actions as “stern beyond measure”, especially in Yorkshire, but also in other northern counties, including Cheshire. The decrease in value of land from 1066 to 1085 is recorded in Domesday Book. In 1085, almost 20 years after the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror decided to organise a su...