Victory at last declared for the faith of Christ.

Penda himself fell on the field.

The river over which the Mercians fled was swollen with a great rain; it swept away the fragments of the heathen host, and the cause of the older gods was lost for ever.
[Sidenote: Oswiu] The terrible struggle between heathendom and Christianity was followed by a long and profound peace.

For three years after the battle of Winwaed Mercia was governed by Northumbrian thegns in Oswiu's name.

The winning of central England was a victory for Irish Christianity as well as for Oswiu.