In 1001, the Danes, having landed at Exmouth, marched to Exeter, which they besieged, but unable to take the settlement, they laid waste the surrounding country. At Pinhoe, they were confronted by Cola, the Saxon King Ethelred's commander-in-chief, with a hastily assembled force: the Danes were victorious. The actual site of the battle is said to be in or near Mincimore copse. The day after the battle, the invading Vikings burnt Pinhoe, Broad Clyst, and other neighbouring villages. In 2001, the battle was commemorated in the village by a series of military re-enactments, a Viking-themed children's parade and summer fete.