Nostalgia: Torbay in the dark ages

In the quiet coastal region of South Devon lies the hamlet of Boohay, nestled between Brixham and Kingswear.

At first glance, Boohay appears like any other small English settlement, but the name carries echoes of a distant past, stretching back into the mists of the so-called Dark Ages. The name itself, first recorded as Bogheweye in 1330 and later as Bowhay in 1542, can be traced back even further to Liddlewigeston in 1200 and Ledwycheton in 1242.

What ties Boohay to ancient history is the connection between these names and Letavia, the Latin word for Brittany, suggesting that Boohay holds memories of migration—possibly of people from Brittany, part of a broader wave of migration and resettlement that defined the early medieval period in Europe.

The period between 400 and 800 AD, after the withdrawal of Roman forces from Britain, is often referred to as the Dark Ages. It was a time of upheaval, warfare, and uncertainty, as the infrastructure and urban life established by the Romans began to fade. While the term “Dark Ages” has fallen out of favour with historians, largely because it suggests a period of ignorance and chaos, it does capture the fact that much of what happened during this time is poorly recorded.

Migrations and the Age of Movement

Boohay’s original name, linked to settlers from Brittany, offers a glimpse into one of the great movements of people during the Dark Ages—the migration of Britons to what became known as Brittany. After the collapse of Roman authority in Britain and the subsequent invasions by the Anglo-Saxons, many of the native Celtic Britons fled westward to places like Wales, Cornwall, and across the sea to Armorica (modern-day France). There, they established a region that would come to be called Brittany, or “Britons’ Land”.

This migration was part of a wider phenomenon that saw people on the move all over Europe, in what became known as the Age of Migrations.

During this period, England, or the land that would become England, was transformed by the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, Germanic tribes from what is now Denmark and northwestern Germany. They began settling in Britain around 450 AD, gradually displacing the Romano-British culture that had dominated for centuries. By the mid-fifth to early seventh centuries, the Anglo-Saxon influence had reshaped much of the country’s language, culture, and political landscape.

Torbay and the Dumnonii Britons

Yet, the transformation was not immediate or total. It would take centuries for the Anglo-Saxons to conquer the far west of Britain. In places like Torbay, the Dumnonii Britons, who inhabited the region, managed to hold out much longer. Devon remained largely Celtic for centuries after the Anglo-Saxon raids began in the east. It wasn’t until the reign of King Aethelstan (924–939) that the final conquest of Devon took place. Aethelstan expelled the Britons from Exeter in 927 and established the boundary between English and Cornish peoples at the River Tamar.

But what became of the Celtic Britons who lived in places like Torbay? Some undoubtedly fled, joining their fellow Britons in Cornwall or across the Channel in Brittany. Others, however, stayed. Recent research suggests that not all of the Celtic Britons were displaced by the Anglo-Saxon invaders. DNA studies conducted in 2015 showed that some modern residents of Devon still carry genetic markers of the original Dumnonii Britons, indicating that they survived the Anglo-Saxon conquest and remained in the region.

The Legacy of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Coexistence

Torbay’s place names also provide clues to this coexistence of the old Celtic and new Anglo-Saxon cultures. The name Paignton, for example, appears to be of Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the personal name Paega and the suffix ton, meaning settlement. Paega’s settlement was likely an Anglo-Saxon village established in the wake of the invasion. On the other hand, Brixham seems to have a more complex origin. While Brioc is an old English name, it may also be derived from a Brythonic (Celtic) personal name. This points to a community where both Anglo-Saxon and Celtic cultures co-existed for a time.