To understand the context of this post please read The Danelaw in Derbyshire. This summarises the evidence for the Danelaw boundary in this area. Place name evidence suggests that south Derbyshire was part of the Danelaw and controlled by the Vikings but Staffordshire and north-west Derbyshire remained Anglo-Saxon. The River Dove was the Danelaw boundary up to the Henmore brook but the boundary then followed the Henmore from west to east,

The traditional game of Shrovetide football is played in Ashbourne every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.  There are two sides, uppards and downards; uppards are those born on the north side of the Henmore Brook and downards those born on the south side.  The goals are about three miles apart at the mills of Clifton and Sturston, Clifton is downstream from Ashbourne and Sturston upstream.  The number of players on each side is unlimited and the objective is to carry the ball to the opposing mill and bang the ball three times against the mill wheel.  Play starts at 2pm each day and finishes at 10pm.

The division of the sides into uppards and downards clearly mirrors the division of Ashbourne in the Danelaw period.  The uppards are the Anglo-Saxons and the downards are the Vikings.  The aim of the uppards (Anglo-Saxons) is to score at Sturston mill.  The placename Sturston is believed to be a hybrid name – a Viking personal name + tun which is Old English for settlement.  So the Anglo-Saxons are attemting to score at the Viking mill.  The downards (Vikings) are attempting to score at the Clifton mill which has a placename that is purely Anglo-Saxon.

The earliest reference to Shrovetide football at Ashbourne is from the 17^th century but ball games have mentioned earlier in the historical record and it is possible that the game at Ashbourne is based upon rivalries that have existed since the 9^th or 10^th centuries.

Footnote:

Atherstone (Warwickshire) has a similar game played on Shrove Tuesday. The game there starts at 3pm and lasts until 5pm and the person who has the ball at 5pm is the winner. Originally the game was a contest between the Atherstone inhabitants of Warwickshire and those of Leicestershire. Atherstone sits on Watling Street which, according to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, was the border of the Danelaw. The contest dates back to at least 1200 and like Ashbourne Shrovetide the Atherstone game looks as if it had its origins in the rivalry between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons with the Vikings of Leicestershire taking in the Anglo-Saxons of Warwickshire. So it looks as if Vikings and Anglo-Saxons settled their differences with a game of football rather than swords and shields.

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