Battle of Englefield battles followed, including the Battle of Ashdown, when Alfred led the Saxon forces to victory, and the Battle of Basing, when the Danes prevailed. In April 871, Ethelred died, to be succeeded by Alfred. Much of King Alfred's 28-year reign was taken up with the Danish conflict. Battle of Englefield The Battle of Englefield was a battle on 31 December 870 at Englefield, near Reading in what is now the English county of Berkshire. It was one of a series of battles, with honours to both sides, that took place following an invasion of the then kingdom of Wessex by
Battle of Ashdown historical novel by C. Walter Hodges. The battle is described in "The Last Kingdom" by Bernard Cornwell. There is also an account of a visit to the battlefield in "Tom Brown's Schooldays":- "And now we leave the camp, and descend towards the west, and are on the Ashdown. We are treading on heroes. It is sacred ground for Englishmen—more sacred than all but one or two fields where their bones lie whitening. For this is the actual place where our Alfred won his great battle, the battle of Ashdown ('Aescendum' in the chroniclers), which broke the Danish power, and made