Cuthwine and Ceawlin fight the Britons in 577: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the slaying of three kings—Coinmail, Condidan, and Farinmail—in a place called Deorham and the capture of three strongholds: Gloucester, Cirencester and Bathcester.

Deorham has been identified as Dyrham, a village some eight miles north of Bath, and five miles west of the Fosse Way, the Roman road between Bath and Cirencester.

The Historia Britonum records one Glast as coming from Lichfield south to found Glastonbury about the time the Mercians conquer part of their kingdom to create Shropshire.

More important is the fact that the Anglo-Saxon invaders can now sweep into the Severn valley (as Ceawlin is said to have done several years later) and plunder the inhabitants, while the Celts to the west can no longer as easily penetrate the Cotswolds scarp between Gloucester and Cirencester to return the visit.