Burghal Hidage - Burhs and Hides

Burhs and Hides

After his victory over the Danes at the Battle of Edington (878) and the departure of another Viking army from Fulham in 880, Alfred the Great set about building a system of fortified towns or forts, known as burhs in response to the Viking threat. These burhs included former Roman towns (whose stone walls were repaired and perimeter ditches sometimes added), temporary forts and substantial new towns.

In the first half of the 10th century Alfred's son Edward the Elder and his successors made this type of construction a key element in their campaigns against the Vikings, who had been in control of much of Danelaw. This culminated in the eventual creation of a unified Kingdom of England.

In the event of Danish attacks, the provision of fortified towns, was a place of refuge for the Anglo-Saxon rural population who lived within a 24 km(15 mile) radius of each town. They also provided secure regional market centres and from around 973 the coinage was reminted every six or seven years by moneyers in about sixty of the burhs.

Burhs were supported by the labour of the inhabitants of the burghal district, which was assessed by hides. In regions of medieval England outside the Danelaw, the hide was a unit of land defined according to its agricultural yield and taxable potential rather than its area. The areas of hides ranged from 15 to 30 modern acres (6 to 12 hectares). One hide was assumed to support one household. In wartime, five hides were expected to provide one fully armed soldier, and one man from every hide was to provide garrison duty for the burhs and to help in their initial construction and upkeep. The continued maintenance of the burhs, as well as ongoing garrison duty, was also probably supplied by those inhabitants of the new burhs which were planned by the king as new towns. In this way the economic and military functions of the larger burhs were closely interlinked.