The Battle of Heavenfield 635
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PARISH CHURCH, HEAVENFIELD.
The parish church of St Oswald in Lee - standing alone on a hill overlooking Hadrian's Wall, some five kms (three miles) north of Hexham - was rebuilt in 1737 on the site of at least two earlier foundations. A ccording to tradition, the first church was built to commemorate the Battle of Heavenfield (634), in which Cadwaladr (Cadwalla or Cadwallon), King of Gwynedd, was defeated and killed by Oswald (son of Ethelfrith, King of Northumbria) who was converted to Christianity on Iona.
Immediately after the battle, Oswald was accepted as King of Northumbria, thereby reuniting the two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Deira (with a capital at York) and Bernicia (with a capital at Bamburgh) .Victory so it was believed, had been achieved with the assistance of God for prior to the battle, Oswald had knelt and prayed before a wooden cross specifically erected for the purpose. The site became a place of pilgrimage.
In 642, after he had been slain at the battle of Maserfield (Oswestry) by Penda, King of Mercia, Oswald was venerated as a saint and martyr.
