History of Reading, Berkshire earlier folk, or tribal, name. Anglo-Saxon names ending in "-ingas" originally referred not to a place but to a people, in this case specifically the descendants or followers of a man named "Reada", literally "The Red One." In late 870 an army of Danes invaded the then kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, the first Battle of Reading took place, when an army led by King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", and this account provides the
Battle of Ashdown near Compton Beauchamp. The Danes had meanwhile reached Uffington Castle, where they had made their camp. On the morning of 8 January 871, the two sides met. The armies were drawn up in two columns each. The Danes were commanded by their Kings, Bagsecg and Halfdan Ragnarsson and five Earls. Ethelred and Alfred led the Saxons. Alfred was keen to get to grips with the enemy, but Ethelred decided to spend the ensuing lull in prayer for victory. He left the battlefield for the little church at Aston (Tirrold or Upthorpe) and, despite Alfred’s insistence, he would not return until