He wanted to make sure that he cut the Danish army off from marching any further towards Wantage. The day of the battle dawned and Alfred had broken camp before dawn and marched his troops along The Fairmile in a pincer movement to try and cut off the advancing Danish Army.
But, King Etheldred, being a highly pious man was at prayer and would not commence his march to join Alfred until he had finished hearing Mass, so he remained in prayer in the church in Aston Upthorpe. Here the story is fraught with some historical issues as the current All Saints Church was not built until a long time after But what we do not know is whether an earlier, Saxon wooden, thatched church may have stood there and that the later stone chapel of All Saints was built upon its footprint.
Alfred could not wait for Ethelred to arrive, or he would have lost his advantage, so he started the battle without his brother. He led only half the Saxon army, fighting uphill against the Danish army who were massed above him on higher ground. The battle was not going well for Alfred as he was outnumbered, but then his brother King Ethelred arrived just in time and the battle carried on all day and the Danes were finally defeated.
The remnants of the Danish army scattered running back towards their stronghold just outside Reading and had to march through the night and some of the next day to get there.
There was a huge loss of life on both sides and many men were slaughtered, their bodies littering the slopes of the Downs for miles around. One other local story is that the valley where many of the Danes fled down into is now called Deans Bottom which is said to be a possible corruption of the name Danes Bottom. The recorded history and background to the battle. The historical accounts for this battle comes from the Anglo Saxon Chronicles and their writers e:g sources such as Asser and The Peterborough Manuscript — some were written a good number of years after the battle and the writers had never been eye witnesses to the event.
Exactly where Ash Down was has long been disputed. Some historians preferred the White Horse Hill as the battle site, but the Saxon Chronicles although written many years after the event , do say that the Danish army managed to flee back to their camp at Englefield, near Reading during the night and part of the day following the battle.
That would not have been possible to achieve if the battle had taken place at the White Horse Hill. Reconstruction of the Battle of Ashdown January 8 th The battle raged all day on high ground around an ancient lone thorn tree. By late , the Vikings under Halfdan Ragnarsson spurred on by their success in Northumbria, prepared to attack the southern Kingdom of Wessex. The Saxons of Wessex retreated to the Berkshire Downs area to reassemble their forces after a short but bloody skirmish at the gates to the Danish stronghold at Englefield just outside Reading in the week before Christmas The Saxon Army remained in the area around Wallingford for about 8 days after that skirmish.
It is not known exactly where the two armies met, though it was around a lone thorn tree. Modern investigation suggests a site on the Ridgeway between Aldworth and the Astons. The Danes had meanwhile reached Uffington Castle , where they had made their camp. On the morning of 8 January , the two sides met where the lone gnarled thorn tree stood.
The armies were drawn up in two columns each. Ethelred and Alfred led the Saxons. There they waited, jeering and shouting at one another.
Alfred was keen to get to grips with the enemy, but Ethelred decided to spend the ensuing lull in prayer for victory. The young Prince had to make a decision whether to wait for his brother or commence the fight alone. The troops were on edge and impatient. The Danes had already deployed in an advantageous position, on the higher ground and to let them take the initiative would be to court disaster. The Saxons prevailed but not without great carnage on each side.
The Danes were chased back eastward, across Berkshire. Many hundreds of bodies covered the chalky slopes. King Bagsecg and the five Danish Earls perished. These are misguided assertions however and, in fact, Seven Barrows appears to date from the Bronze Age and Waylands Smithy from Neolithic times. Some years after the Boer War , manoeuvres were held at Ashdown Park. On the final day one year, in full view of a grandstand full of dignitaries and the general public, two large bodies of cavalry, including the Household Cavalry , came too close for comfort.
The ensuing melee caused many injuries and was referred to as 'The Battle of Ashdown'. There is a comprehensive account of the battle in The King of Atheleny by the prolific historical novelist Alfred Duggan. The stone produced a booming sound when the air was blown through one of its holes. Alfred blew hard and a great boom was heard across the Downs. The Saxons soon gathered to his signal to defend their homes from the marauding Vikings.
Ethelred and Alfred marched their army to block the ancient road across the Berkshire downs at a spot known to the Saxons as Nachededorne or the naked thorn. The precise location of the battle is not known with certainty. Investigation in modern times suggests a site on the Ridgeway between Aldworth and the Astons. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, our chief source of information on the period, refers to the spot as Ashdown. On the morning of 8 January , the two opposing armies faced each other at a site where a lone gnarled thorn tree stood, though initially, neither appeared eager to open the battle.
The pious King Ethelred wished to spend this lull before the battle in prayer and went to the church at Aston intending to return when battle commenced. Alfred grew impatient with his brother, but despite his insistence, Ethelred would not return until the priest had finished the service. The Vikings had already formed battle lines in an advantageous position, on the higher ground and Alfred, impatient and eager to engage the enemy, gave the signal for his men to attack.
In a bitter and bloody pitched battle that lasted until nightfall, with great carnage on each side, the Viking leader King Bagsecg and the five Danish Earls perished on the battlefield.
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