Blowing Stone Hill, where 19th-century antiquarians thought King Alfred the Great's Saxon troops had camped, and that this was how Alfred summoned them for the Battle of Ashdown against the Danes in AD 871. Thomas Hughes' novel "Tom Brown's School Days" refers to it as the "Blawing Stwun" and calls the village "Kingstone Lisle". It is also one of the "sacred stones" mentioned in William Horwood's "Duncton Wood", the first book in his fantasy fiction series about a group of moles. Blowing Stone The Blowing Stone is a perforated sarsen at in Kingston Lisle, Oxfordshire (Berkshire until 1974). The stone is in
Battle of Ashdown situation, the battle had little meaning. However, later that year, King Ethelred would be struck down, and Alfred would take up the crown as the last hope for Wessex. The knowledge and respect he gained on the battlefield of Ashdown were likely instrumental in his ability to eventually turn the tide against the Danish invaders and slowly begin the reconquest of England. The Saxons prevailed but losses on each side were considerable. The Danes were forced back eastward, across Berkshire. Many hundreds of bodies covered the battlefield. King Bagsecg and the five Danish earls perished during the battle. Local tradition