After a long pause, not only in themes but also in writing, I have returned to the original concept of this column, namely writing about historical sites. This column will cover a recent trip to England, specifically the area near Oxford. While the nature of the trip was business in London, there was time for a weekend visit to Wallingford-on-Thames. It is accessible by bus from Oxford and London and lies within the daily commuter belt around London.

I got there by taking a train to Reading, which is about a 30 minute trip from Paddington Station (for those interested in attending the local wargame conventions, and then by car to Wallingford. A friend, Simon MacDowall, who has written several rule books and more recently two Osprey books (Late Roman Infantryman and cavalryman) is now living there and works near Oxford. He invited me to spend the weekend, which permitted us time to catch up on our most recent activities. It also presented an opportunity to visit some of the local area with the aim of examining ancient and medieval sites.

First on the tour was the old Saxon walls which enclosed the original town. The most prominent section marks the edge of the pasture areas for cattle. In some parts it is barely a foot high rising to well over eight feet. The town in Saxon times was quite prosperous and it was here that a mint was established. The town lies too far up river for most large boats, which meant that it could not be attacked by Viking boats. It was still vulnerable to attacks by Vikings moving cross-country and this will be covered later.

The town survived into Norman times and a moat-and-bailey castle was built close to the river. From this humble structure arose a fairly large royal castle. This overlooks both river and town. There i5 little left of either castle as Wallingford was the scene of the final battle/siege of the First English Civil War which ended in 1646. Even the Saxon walls were used to defend the town and the gun embrasures cut into the defenses are still clearly visible. Cromwell ensured that the town was rendered indefensible by destroying most of the walls and castle. Today much of the castle is covered by vegetation which r obscures most of the royal castle, although the outline of the earlier castle is still clear--mainly because of its distinctive shape and height.

Of note, there are plans to re-enact the battle of Wallingford this summer to mark the 150 anniversary. This will be a large event with approximately 5,000 participants. Anyone visiting the town will be able to tour the original streets pre-17th century. It has not grown very much and no major highways pass through it. There is also a good museum which has a model of the royal castle unfortunately it was closed during my visit. (I had to make do with a pub meal and beer instead of the tour.)

About four miles from Wallingford, there is a Neolithic hill fort which also saw use in Saxon times. It provides a good view of the surrounding countryside and its steep slopes would discourage some attackers intent on plunder rather than a siege. From the hilltop, it is possible to look down onto the Thames and nearby Dorchester, which was the closest Roman town. We traveled over to Dorchester for a look at the abbey.

Dorchester is also a town that has not prospered much in modern times and has remained about the same size as it was in Roman times. The town was a centre of Christianity in Saxon times and was the scene of the baptism of an early Wessex king, Cynegils and the wedding of Oswald of Northumbria (later St Oswald) to the daughter of Cynegils in 635 AD. The ceremonies were performed by St Birnius, who was a missionary bishop sent from Rome to the area to convert the Wessex Saxons in 634 AD. The abbey houses the tomb of a Crusader knight, possibly Sir John de Holcombe, who died in 1270 AD. He was connected to the Royal Family by marriage and one of his ancestors was a captain of archers under William the Conqueror (who granted him land near Dorchester, but not a knight's fee). Another figure of a knight, carved in alabaster about 1400 AD may be of a member of the Segrave family, another prominent local family.

The final stop on the tour was Oxford. There was not much time to see this city as it was late in the day (dusk was about 3:30 p.m.); however, we did walk amongst some of the colleges.

One of the topics of conversation during our stops at the pubs (just another reason for visiting the area) was about Simon's research for two Osprey books. It is not the intent here to advertise for them, however, it was interesting to learn about what is required to write Osprey.

The overall format is very rigid and forces the author to limit the content. This can be frustrating because it is difficult to present detailed information on the subject. The author must include text, line diagrams, pictures and maps. It is also the author's responsibility to oversee the artist who is contracted to provide the color plates. The choice of artists is not left to the author, which can increase the workload for the author. The directions to the artist can be as long as or more than the text drafted for the book. Osprey also dictates the type of plates to be included and these are determined by the series (Elite, Warrior, Man-at-Arms, etc.).

Simon provided examples of his problems in writing the books. He also added how his ideas evolved as he spent time on the subject. While his conceptualization of the Late Roman soldier was not clearly presented in the two books (he could have filled more pages with his notes and pictures), he did have lots of research to defend his ideas. He left me with the impression that the second book on the cavalry was the better of the two because he had done more research for it and he liked the artist's work. Christa Nook had given substance to his ideas in her depiction of the soldiers and their environment.

Take note that there are some errors in both books which we were able to mutually identify. These mar the overall result, but do not outweigh the efforts of author and artists.

On the subject of books, I saw many interesting titles in both London and Oxford. The price tag kept me from buying too many. It is a case of changing the dollar sign to the pound sign for books and other items, only the numbers stay the same. I did buy The Viking Art of War by Paddy Griffith and the three volumes of Ammianus Harcellinus from the Loeb Library. The latter are hard to find in North America and usually expensive. I like these books because they have the original text on the left and English translation on the right page. This means that the translation can be compared for technical accuracy.

For example, I noted that catafractarii was translated as cavalry in coat-of-mail which describes most Roman cavalry of the period (according to Simon). The other book is offered by Barnes and Noble at $24.95 (I paid 18.95 pounds). It covers the Viking military very well and uses both fact and fiction (Viking sagas) to present the subject.

On my return to Canada, I found out that I shall have the chance to visit some more historical sites this year, albeit unforecasted. I have been selected to spend one year in Cyprus with the United Nations Force In Cyprus (UNFICYP). This comprises about 1600 personnel drawn from several nations and has been in operation since 1964. I did not expect to be selected but the opportunity does allow for lots of travel in the eastern Mediterranean. I have begun researching Cypriot history and marking my map with places to visit. Cyprus has many Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader and Turkish sites that will no doubt provide material for this column. I have already checked the INTERNET for museums and tourist information in addition to historical articles.

Prior to moving from Ottawa, I shall be taking a three week vacation in the Middle East as a reconnaissance of the region. The itinerary includes numerous historical sites in Egypt, Israel and Jordan. One of the stops will be at Krak, which is a famous Crusader castle in Jordan. It was besieged by Saladin and was used as a base for launching the only Crusader fleet to campaign in the Red Sea. I am looking forward to visiting it.

This column's title, in archaic Greek, loosely translates as "military intelligence." -- RL for MagWeb

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© Copyright 1996 by Terry Gore

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web), available on the Internet World Wide Web at http://www.magweb.com