The 'Battle of Buttington Island' or 'Battle of Buttington' in 894 AD, between the Saxons and the Danes, is believed by some to have been fought here. It is marked on early Ordnance Survey mapping as "Site of Battle Fought between the Saxons & the Danes A.D.894".

The Royal Commission's Montgomeryshire Inventory of 1911 states that "In the year 1838 . . . in the south-west corner of Buttington churchyard, an immense quantity of human bones was discovered, many of the skulls bearing evidence of a violent death. These have been generally regarded as the remains of combatants in the battle which the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records as having been fought between the Saxons and the Danes at Buttingtune in the year 894. . . the site of the battle has been marked on the Ordnance map . . . It should, however, be observed that this location of the battle has not been universally accepted."
The reference to Buttington in 894 is from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but is generally argued to be the one in Gloucestershire, near Tidenham, e.g. B.G. Charles, Non-Celtic Place-Names in Wales, p.189. In 893 at Buttington close to the confluence of the Severn and Wye a joint army of English and Welsh, after great slaughter, drove what remained of Haesten's army back to Essex. Buttington by Chepstow tallies better with the description in the Chronicle.

Source: J.E.Lloyd, A History of Wales, vol I, 1912, p.329.

B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 13 October 2006.