Battle of the Holme Battle of the Holme The Battle of the Holme took place in East Anglia on 13 December 902 between the Anglo-Saxon men of Kent and the East Anglian Danes. Its location is unknown but may have been Holme in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire). Following the death of Alfred the Great in 899, his son Edward the Elder became king, but his cousin Æthelwold, the son of Alfred's elder brother, King Æthelred, claimed the throne. His bid was unsuccessful, and he fled to the Northumbrian Danes, who, according to one version of the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", accepted him as king. In
Battle of Ashdown Wessex, preferring easier targets. 'Æscesdūn' or Ashdown is generally thought to be an ancient name for the whole of the Berkshire Downs. It is not known exactly where the two armies met, though it was around a lone thorn tree. Thorn Down at Compton, near East Ilsley — meaning "Place of Conflict" — is therefore a popular contender. Modern investigation suggests a site on the Ridgeway between Aldworth and the Astons. Victorian theory states that Alfred’s men gathered at the valley-fort now called Alfred's Castle near Ashdown House at Ashbury. Ethelred’s troops had taken up position nearby, at Hardwell Camp,