So today I drove through Stamford Bridge. I noticed that there was a signpost explaining about a battle in 1066 and proceeded to read up a bit about it. Later I went to a pub in the village (town?) and on the wall was a map of England from the year 1060. There were few towns ‘up north’ but Stamford Bridge was labelled as one of them. My question is why there? Ok there’s the river, but it’s not on the coast or near an accessible port (I don’t think). How did this bunch of fields in Yorkshire end up being the site of a significant battle and a significant place at all. Any more info on the battle would also gratefully received. Thank you!
I'm jealous you got to visit! The Battle of Stamford Bridge wasn't a battle over the place itself, but one between two rival armies whom circumstance brought there.
As you probably saw on the signpost, the Norse army under Harald Hardrada had invaded England seeking to win the crown following the death of the English King Edward the Confessor. They landed on the north-east coast and proceeded to defeat a local English army and take the city of York.
At this time, York, which is only a few miles from Stamford Bridge, was one of the major cities of England and could be considered the capital of the North. It was also founded by the Vikings themselves a few centuries before (they named it Jorvik) and had been the capital of Viking-ruled England. It's natural, therefore, that they would seek to control this city as a precursor to moving down South.
However, an English earl called Harold Godwinson had taken the English throne for himself after the old king's death. He had an army already stationed on the South coast in anticipation of the invasion of William (the Conqueror) from Normandy, and decided to quickly march it up to York to expel the Norse invaders. He did this in extraordinary time, marching 185 miles in just 4 days, extremely quickly for an army at this time.
Of course, the Norse weren't expecting any hostile armies to reach them this quickly, and had arranged to accept hostages from local lords at Stamford Bridge, which was just outside their base at York. Harold Godwinson heard this and marched there to surprise them, which he did!
The battle itself is really interesting. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the English caught the Norse completely by surprise, with their army divided into two parts on either side of the river. It's said that many of the Norse soldiers hadn't even brought their armour with them, not expecting to fight a battle. After slaughtering the Norsemen trapped on their side of the river, the English then tried to advance over the bridge. The Chronicle then says that a single Norse axeman of giant stature then defended the bridge alone against the English attackers, slaying 40 of them. He was only killed when some English floated a boat underneath the bridge and thrust a pike through the planks.
This delay gave the Norse on the opposite side more time to prepare, giving the English a harder fight than before. Nonetheless the Norse were completely routed, with only 24 ships needed to ferry the survivors back to Norway compared to 300 that had brought them.
Hope this answers a few of your questions! It's a fascinating period, and the story only gets wilder from there with the invasion of William the Conqueror.