Battle of Bradford-on-Avon 652

 From Bradford Museum

Bradford is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 652 when Cenwalh, the West Saxon king of Wessex, is reported to have fought a battle at Bradanforda be Afne. The Chronicle, written much later, gives no details about whom he fought, perhaps against the native Britons or the Mercians, or what was the outcome. In another source, William of Malmesbury’s De gestis regum Anglorum written in the 12th century, a battle was fought at a place called Wirtgernesburh; this could have been the same battle and the place name might refer to the old hillfort at Budbury, just above the town. Until England became unified, Bradford was right on the frontier between Wessex and Mercia.