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Slaughter Bridge

"Arthur was filled with great mental anguish by the fact that Mordred had escaped him so often. Without losing a moment, he followed him to that same locality, reaching the River Camblam [Camlann], where Mordred was awaiting his arrival."

Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae

Favored by Geoffrey as the site of Arthur's death, Slaughter Bridge crosses the River Camel in Cornwall just above Camelford. Although a later battle probably was fought there, its association with Arthur may be another example of the hero being historicized with an actual event.

The name corresponds to the Celtic Camboglanna ("Crooked Glen"), which has been identified with the Roman fort of Camboglanna (Birdoswald) far to the north on Hadrian's Wall. But it more properly is the name of Castlesteads, a small Roman fort, the stones of which all have been robbed, situated off the line of the Wall just west of Birdoswald.

 

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