"Hi my name is Elaine Connell and I live in Hebden Bridge. I became interested in the history of Elmet through reading Ted Hughes' collection of poems "Remains of Elmet." I don't know much about the kingdom only that it was the last Celtic area (according to Hughes) to fall to the Saxons. Is this true? I like the site which is fascinating."

Elaine. the Celtic Kingdom of Elmet (Elmete) was one of the Thirteen Kingdoms of the North that were known simply as Y Gogledd, The North. It stretched from what is now central Wales to the Humber estuary and from north of Edinbrough to north of Dunbarton.

Sadly Hughes seems a little lost in his promotion of Elmet as the last kingdom of the Romano-British Celts as Elmet was one of, if not THE, first kingdom to fall to the Angles. The final one to lose it's ancient identity was Strath Alcut, around present day Glasgow. It was centred on Dunbarton (meaning fortress of the Britons) and ended in the 11th century when theire was no longer a male heir and the daughter of the late king married the king of Scotland. It then became part of Scotland.

Elmet fell to the Angles in the early 7th century.