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Tim Clarkson

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I undertook postgraduate study at the University of Manchester, completing an MPhil in archaeology (1994) and a PhD in early medieval history (2001).

The title of my master's thesis is 'The Solway Region, AD 400-650, and the Kingdom of Rheged'.

The title of my doctoral thesis is 'Warfare in Early Historic Northern Britain'.

Since graduating, I have pursued my research interests as an 'independent scholar', my published work mainly comprising eight books on early medieval history.

From 2012 to 2016, I was involved in community heritage projects at Govan, working alongside archaeologists, artists and other creative professionals as a historical adviser on the early medieval period.

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Books by Tim Clarkson

A Mighty Fleet and the King's Power: the Isle of Man, AD 400 to 1265

Æthelflæd: the Lady of the Mercians

Scotland's Merlin: a Medieval Legend and its Dark Age Origins

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age

The Makers of Scotland: Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings

The Picts: A History (Revised edition)

The Men of the North: the Britons of Southern Scotland

Papers by Tim Clarkson

The last king of Strathclyde

Examines the final phase of the kingdom of Strathclyde in the eleventh century, from the Battle o... more

Stilicho, Claudian and the Picts

Verses attributed to the poet Claudius Claudianus appear to suggest that the Roman general Flaviu... more

Locating Maserfelth

The Heroic Age (online journal), 2006

Tradition identifies the site of Oswald's last and fatal battle as the area around Oswestry in Sh... more

Local Folklore and the Battle of Arthuret

Examines the possibility that folklore in the area around Longtown in Cumbria preserves authentic... more

Richmond and Catraeth

It has been suggested that Catraeth - a place mentioned in the Old Welsh poem 'Y Gododdin' - migh... more

Talks by Tim Clarkson

Britons and Anglo-Saxons in the Tweed Valley (AD 400 to 700)

From Merlin and the Britons to the coming of the Norsemen

An overview of the Dark Age history of Dumfriesshire and Galloway.

Merlin in Scotland and Govan

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age

A lecture on my book of the same title, published in 2014.

One of four new heritage trails in Govan, Glasgow, is the 'Thirteen Treasures Of Govan' which inv... more

The Doomster Hill at Govan

The now-vanished Doomster Hill at Govan was a ceremonial mound probably used as a 'parliament hil... more

Book Reviews by Tim Clarkson

Review of Oisín Plumb, 'Picts and Britons in the Early Medieval Irish Church: Travels West Over the Storm-Swelled Sea' (Turnhout: Brepols, 2020)

Innes Review, vol.72(2), pp.199-201, 2021

New monographs offering fresh perspectives on the early ecclesiastical history of Britain and Ire... more New monographs offering fresh perspectives on the early ecclesiastical history of Britain and Ireland are always welcome, especially if they focus on themes that generally receive less attention than others. This volume, arising from the author's doctoral research at the University of Edinburgh, is one such study. It discusses the part played by individuals from northern Britain in the development of the early Irish Church, mainly during the fifth and sixth centuries. It demonstrates that the well-attested Irish presence in the churches of northern Britain was mirrored by a similar movement of personnel in the opposite direction. The textual evidence constitutes a 'migration narrative' shaped over many hundreds of years by writers on both sides of the Irish Sea. One such writer was Adomnán, whose vita of St Columba mentions Iógenán, a Pictish priest who, in Plumb's words, was 'apparently living in Leinster, owning a book written by Columba, who was himself a migrant from Ireland to northern Britain'. This is a good example of ecclesiastical migration, a term describing travel by a religious figure that led to a lengthy period of residence rather than just a brief visit. Plumb identifies three main 'channels of migration': from Pictland to the Irish-speaking Columban Church (in both Ireland and northern Britain); from northern Pictland to Ireland; and from the territory of the Northern Britons (in what is now southern Scotland) to Ireland. Chapter 2 gives a useful introduction to the sources, a necessary section in any book dealing with this period. Texts relating to early medieval Britain and Ireland are notoriously difficult to interpret, not least because their dates of compilation tend to be much later than the events they report. Explaining the myriad problems is no easy task for an author but Plumb handles it well. Indeed, he discusses these complex issues so clearly that even a reader lacking prior familiarity with the various annals, martyrologies, vitae and breviaries should feel sufficiently well-equipped to tackle the chapters that lie ahead. Chapter 3 looks at the development of the early Irish Church and the significant role attributed to figures from northern Britain. St Patrick inevitably looms in the background but the inconclusive debates over his origins and career are wisely avoided. Instead, the spotlight falls on other British saints who were active in

A Mighty Fleet and the King's Power: the Isle of Man, AD 400 to 1265

Æthelflæd: the Lady of the Mercians

Scotland's Merlin: a Medieval Legend and its Dark Age Origins

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age

The Makers of Scotland: Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings

The Picts: A History (Revised edition)

The Men of the North: the Britons of Southern Scotland

The last king of Strathclyde

Examines the final phase of the kingdom of Strathclyde in the eleventh century, from the Battle o... more

Stilicho, Claudian and the Picts

Verses attributed to the poet Claudius Claudianus appear to suggest that the Roman general Flaviu... more

Locating Maserfelth

The Heroic Age (online journal), 2006

Tradition identifies the site of Oswald's last and fatal battle as the area around Oswestry in Sh... more

Local Folklore and the Battle of Arthuret

Examines the possibility that folklore in the area around Longtown in Cumbria preserves authentic... more

Richmond and Catraeth

It has been suggested that Catraeth - a place mentioned in the Old Welsh poem 'Y Gododdin' - migh... more

Britons and Anglo-Saxons in the Tweed Valley (AD 400 to 700)

From Merlin and the Britons to the coming of the Norsemen

An overview of the Dark Age history of Dumfriesshire and Galloway.

Merlin in Scotland and Govan

Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age

A lecture on my book of the same title, published in 2014.

One of four new heritage trails in Govan, Glasgow, is the 'Thirteen Treasures Of Govan' which inv... more

The Doomster Hill at Govan

The now-vanished Doomster Hill at Govan was a ceremonial mound probably used as a 'parliament hil... more

Review of Oisín Plumb, 'Picts and Britons in the Early Medieval Irish Church: Travels West Over the Storm-Swelled Sea' (Turnhout: Brepols, 2020)

Innes Review, vol.72(2), pp.199-201, 2021

New monographs offering fresh perspectives on the early ecclesiastical history of Britain and Ire... more New monographs offering fresh perspectives on the early ecclesiastical history of Britain and Ireland are always welcome, especially if they focus on themes that generally receive less attention than others. This volume, arising from the author's doctoral research at the University of Edinburgh, is one such study. It discusses the part played by individuals from northern Britain in the development of the early Irish Church, mainly during the fifth and sixth centuries. It demonstrates that the well-attested Irish presence in the churches of northern Britain was mirrored by a similar movement of personnel in the opposite direction. The textual evidence constitutes a 'migration narrative' shaped over many hundreds of years by writers on both sides of the Irish Sea. One such writer was Adomnán, whose vita of St Columba mentions Iógenán, a Pictish priest who, in Plumb's words, was 'apparently living in Leinster, owning a book written by Columba, who was himself a migrant from Ireland to northern Britain'. This is a good example of ecclesiastical migration, a term describing travel by a religious figure that led to a lengthy period of residence rather than just a brief visit. Plumb identifies three main 'channels of migration': from Pictland to the Irish-speaking Columban Church (in both Ireland and northern Britain); from northern Pictland to Ireland; and from the territory of the Northern Britons (in what is now southern Scotland) to Ireland. Chapter 2 gives a useful introduction to the sources, a necessary section in any book dealing with this period. Texts relating to early medieval Britain and Ireland are notoriously difficult to interpret, not least because their dates of compilation tend to be much later than the events they report. Explaining the myriad problems is no easy task for an author but Plumb handles it well. Indeed, he discusses these complex issues so clearly that even a reader lacking prior familiarity with the various annals, martyrologies, vitae and breviaries should feel sufficiently well-equipped to tackle the chapters that lie ahead. Chapter 3 looks at the development of the early Irish Church and the significant role attributed to figures from northern Britain. St Patrick inevitably looms in the background but the inconclusive debates over his origins and career are wisely avoided. Instead, the spotlight falls on other British saints who were active in

Review of Fiona Edmonds, 'Gaelic Influence in the Northumbrian Kingdom: The Golden Age and the Viking Age' (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2019)

Innes Review, vol.71 (2), pp.270–302, 2020

Review of Eric Nicoll (ed.) 'A Pictish Panorama' (Balgavies: Pinkfoot Press, 1995)

Assemblage: the Sheffield graduate journal of archaeology, 1998

Review of Guy Halsall, 'Worlds of Arthur: Facts and Fictions of the Dark Ages' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)

Scottish Archaeological Journal, vol.33, Issue 1-2, pp. 84-86

Review of Alex Woolf (ed.) Beyond The Gododdin: Dark Age Scotland in Medieval Wales (St Andrews Committee for Dark Age Studies, 2013)

Northern History, vol.51 (1), 192-3, Mar 2014

Old stones and lost kingdoms: Tweeddale in the Early Middle Ages