Adam Gurdun: Quite Possibly Indestructible

In October 1295, eight years after his last military service in Wales, Adam Gurdun was summoned once again to serve his king.

This time he was placed in charge of the defence of Hampshire, part of the chain of coastal defences hurriedly set up against the threat of a French invasion. Adam was appointed ‘custos’ of the Hampshire coast, while similar power was given to Henry of Cobham for Kent and William Stoke for the rapes of Lewes, Pevensey and Hastings.

The threat of invasion was very real. Philip le Bel had brought ship-builders from Genoa to build galleys in Marseille and in Normandy, and in 1295 a squadron sailed from the Mediterranean to invade England. In August a French raiding party landed at Dover and set fire to the town, killing two monks of the priory. An assault on Winchelsea was beaten off, and a French galley foundered on some rocks when it tried to attack Hythe. All along the southern coast, alarm bells were ringing. From his base at Wingham in Kent, King Edward declared the French intended to wipe the English language from the face of the earth. His emphasis on the language - English, not Norman-French or domestic variants - suggests the upper classes in England no longer despised the native tongue.

Adam, now in his 70s, was given total responsibility for mustering soldiers and organising the defence of Hampshire. From his headquarters at Portsmouth, he was in command of a licensed private army. The old knight went about his task with relish: within days he had organised a general mobilisation of all able-bodied men, and come up with a detailed plan for the defence of his section of coastline.

The coastal defence scheme for Hampshire survives in its entirety. Adam’s defences consisted of a strong garrison on the Isle of Wight, with the mainland beaches along the Solent and Spithead and the Southampton Water guarded by infantry. These men were drawn from seaside villages and inland hundreds as a first line of defense. Behind them was a mobile reserve of cavalry. If the French attempted to land on the mainland, they would be outflanked by the garrison on the Isle. If they tried to attack the Isle, they would be bottled up by Adam’s forces on the mainland and ships from the Cinque Ports.

Adam also set about raising the landholders of the region. Everyone in Hampshire who could afford to raise men was summoned in Hampshire, to be ‘assessed for horses and arms’. The Bishop of Winchester was assessed for one hundred covered horsemen, the Prior of St Swithin for ten, the Abbot of Waverley at four, the Abbot of Hyde for six, and so on. More cavalry were distributed among Hurst Castle, Portsmouth, and the Isle of Wight. All told, some 246 mounted men were named and tapped for service with horses and arms in defence of Hampshire.