Trevor Bloom – Author

Researching the Hunnic invasion of Gaul for my next book I discovered that in 451 AD Saxons had fought alongside the Franks as allies of the Romans. These were probably Saxons who had settled in North West Gaul, rather than Saxon raiders from the North German plain. By the time that Aetius, Magister Militum or Supreme Commander of the Roman armies in the West, was gathering allies to fight the Huns, these Saxons had probably been settled in Gallia some time and owed allegiance to the Franks. Which is perhaps why they were fighting for a Roman General at a time when their northern kinfolk were taking control of eastern Britain from the Romano-Britons.

The battle, in which the Huns were defeated – or at least prevented from conquering Gallia – is believed to have taken place east of Orleans, near Troyes.

There is not much historical evidence for Saxon colonies in north-west France but place-names do give a clue. In Flandres and Artois and Picardy there are many villages with names that would not be out of place in an English shire. For example: Eringhem, Ledringhem, Ruminghem, Moringhem, Radinghem, Blaringhem, Honninghem and the wonderfully appropriate Drinchem, to cite but a few.

The ‘–ing’ suffix means ‘the people or dependants of’; and ‘ham’, or ‘hem’ as it is written in France, has the same root as ‘home’. So Gillingham would have originally meant ‘the home of Gy(th)la’s people.’