England's north-south divide began with the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago, an archaeological expert has claimed in a new book.
Archaeologist Max Adams said the Watford Gap, one of the country's best known service stations that is widely viewed as the dividing point between the north and south, became a key boundary when the Vikings invaded Britain...
How England's north-south divide began with the VIKINGS: Expert says Watford Gap became a key boundary 1,000 years ago when invaders stopped at Northamptonshire border
England's north-south divide began with the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago
Max Adams said it became a key boundary when the Vikings invaded Britain
He was struck by the absence of Scandinavian place names south-west of A5
By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline
16 October 2017
England's north-south divide began with the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago, an archaeological expert has claimed in a new book.
Archaeologist Max Adams said the Watford Gap, one of the country's best known service stations that is widely viewed as the dividing point between the north and south, became a key boundary when the Vikings invaded Britain.
While working on his new book Ælfred's Britain: War and Peace in the Viking Age, Mr Adams discovered there were very few Scandinavian place names south-west of Watling Street, the Roman road that became the A5.
England's north-south divide began with the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago, a new book has claimed
He told MailOnline: 'When the Vikings invaded, they attempted to conquer all of southern Britain but were held on the Watling Street line by Alfred (871-899).
'Almost all the Scandinavian place names, the evidence of their settlements, occur north-east of Watling Street. And I think they were reasonably happy with that because it meant that all the rivers in their lands - the so-called Danelaw - faced either the North Sea (and home) or the Irish Sea (and Viking Dublin).
'That line is still a linguistic divide and, when the M1 was first built in 1959, it ended at Crick (Junction 18 ), close to the village of Watford.
'Here there was a pub called The Watford Gap and here is the terminal service station on the original M1. The signs on the motorway here say The North.
'So far as I know, the idea that the Watford Gap is the divide between north and south dates from this time. But the reality is that it goes back to the Viking period and beyond.'
Archaeologist Max Adams said the Watford Gap became a key boundary when the Vikings invaded Britain
He also spotted the river sources.
He said: 'The geography of England is such that there is a natural watershed, on either side of which the rivers run north and on the other they run south. So, Thames, Severn and Avon run south, while the Trent, Nene and Great Ouse run the other way.
'The Romans, making a bee-line from Londinium to the important new town of Viroconium (Wroxeter, Shropshire), rationalised that line by building Watling Street so that it crossed the fewest number of large rivers.
'In the Viking Period Watling Street became a boundary for a treaty between King Alfred and the Viking leader Guthrum. Connecting the West Midlands with the south-east, it runs through a narrow pass between hills, the Watford Gap.'
Anglo-Saxon kings later secured that line and made it a frontier in the early 10th-century reigns of Eadweard the Elder and his sister Æthelflæd.
He said: 'In a sense, they reinforced the reality of that piece of geography and it seems to have been with us ever since...it's a joke with a very old reality attached to it.'
When the M1 was built in 1959 the Watford Gap was its end point and it has been recognised as the dividing point between the north and south of England ever since
When the M1 was built in 1959 the Watford Gap was its end point and it has been recognised as the dividing point between the north and south of England ever since.
In 2009 a new signpost was installed at Watford Gap services, marking the perceived north-south boundary.
It was erected as part of the celebrations of the M1's 50th anniversary - and also that of the service station.
Previously called The Blue Boar, the service station is said to have received so many famous guests over the years that Jimi Hendrix mistook it for a London nightclub as it was mentioned so often by his contemporaries.
In studying how the Vikings travelled across Britain, the archaeologist also put together a Tube map of Viking Britain.
The new book by Adams is due out on November 2.
Archaeologist Max Adams said the Watford Gap, one of the country's best known service stations that is widely viewed as the dividing point between the north and south, became a key boundary when the Vikings invaded Britain...
How England's north-south divide began with the VIKINGS: Expert says Watford Gap became a key boundary 1,000 years ago when invaders stopped at Northamptonshire border
England's north-south divide began with the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago
Max Adams said it became a key boundary when the Vikings invaded Britain
He was struck by the absence of Scandinavian place names south-west of A5
By Thomas Burrows for MailOnline
16 October 2017
England's north-south divide began with the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago, an archaeological expert has claimed in a new book.
Archaeologist Max Adams said the Watford Gap, one of the country's best known service stations that is widely viewed as the dividing point between the north and south, became a key boundary when the Vikings invaded Britain.
While working on his new book Ælfred's Britain: War and Peace in the Viking Age, Mr Adams discovered there were very few Scandinavian place names south-west of Watling Street, the Roman road that became the A5.
England's north-south divide began with the Vikings more than 1,000 years ago, a new book has claimed
He told MailOnline: 'When the Vikings invaded, they attempted to conquer all of southern Britain but were held on the Watling Street line by Alfred (871-899).
'Almost all the Scandinavian place names, the evidence of their settlements, occur north-east of Watling Street. And I think they were reasonably happy with that because it meant that all the rivers in their lands - the so-called Danelaw - faced either the North Sea (and home) or the Irish Sea (and Viking Dublin).
'That line is still a linguistic divide and, when the M1 was first built in 1959, it ended at Crick (Junction 18 ), close to the village of Watford.
'Here there was a pub called The Watford Gap and here is the terminal service station on the original M1. The signs on the motorway here say The North.
'So far as I know, the idea that the Watford Gap is the divide between north and south dates from this time. But the reality is that it goes back to the Viking period and beyond.'
He also spotted the river sources.
He said: 'The geography of England is such that there is a natural watershed, on either side of which the rivers run north and on the other they run south. So, Thames, Severn and Avon run south, while the Trent, Nene and Great Ouse run the other way.
'The Romans, making a bee-line from Londinium to the important new town of Viroconium (Wroxeter, Shropshire), rationalised that line by building Watling Street so that it crossed the fewest number of large rivers.
'In the Viking Period Watling Street became a boundary for a treaty between King Alfred and the Viking leader Guthrum. Connecting the West Midlands with the south-east, it runs through a narrow pass between hills, the Watford Gap.'
Anglo-Saxon kings later secured that line and made it a frontier in the early 10th-century reigns of Eadweard the Elder and his sister Æthelflæd.
He said: 'In a sense, they reinforced the reality of that piece of geography and it seems to have been with us ever since...it's a joke with a very old reality attached to it.'
When the M1 was built in 1959 the Watford Gap was its end point and it has been recognised as the dividing point between the north and south of England ever since
When the M1 was built in 1959 the Watford Gap was its end point and it has been recognised as the dividing point between the north and south of England ever since.
In 2009 a new signpost was installed at Watford Gap services, marking the perceived north-south boundary.
It was erected as part of the celebrations of the M1's 50th anniversary - and also that of the service station.
Previously called The Blue Boar, the service station is said to have received so many famous guests over the years that Jimi Hendrix mistook it for a London nightclub as it was mentioned so often by his contemporaries.
In studying how the Vikings travelled across Britain, the archaeologist also put together a Tube map of Viking Britain.
The new book by Adams is due out on November 2.
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