Anglo Saxons 400AD - 1066AD - VillageNet History

In 406AD Emperor Honorius withdrew troops from Britain to defend the Rhine region from invading Barbarians. Two years later a directive was sent from the Emperor to all major towns in Britain telling the local govenors that they were responsible for their own defense. The defense of Sussex in late Roman times was based on the shore fort at Pevensey, called Andredecaester in the Saxon chronicles. The Romans had brought with them many Germanic settlers when they invaded, and most of these settlers remained in Britain.

In 477, three Saxon ships landed at Cumensora, now the Owers Banks, under a leader called Aella. They drove off the British and quickly dominated the western part of the region. In 491 Aella and his son Cissa were fighting again at Mercredesburn (possibly Newenden or Penhurst ) and then captured the fort at Pevensey and massacred the British inside.

In 597 Pope Gregory sent a Christian mission to Britain which was led by Augustine landed in Kent. He was very successful and converted King Aethelbert together with the kings of Essex and East Anglia.

In 793 the first Viking raids took place in Northern England, and during the next years saw major raids along most of the Southern and Eastern coasts of England. These raids culminated in the ‘Great Army’ of 865 which wintered on the Isle of Thanet before commencing on a twelve year invasion.

The first major British Monarchs , the house of Wessex also began its rise to fame during the 800's commencing with Egbert who defeated the Mercians in 825. It is noteworthy that his son, Aethelwulf, was the first king of Wessex to inherit the throne from his father since the seventh century. His other four sons succeeded him in turn Aethelbald, Aethelbert, Aethelred I and finally the youngest and most famous, Alfred the Great. Alfred fought the Vikings 'Great Army' and eventually brought them to a standstill at Edington which produced the Treaty of Wedmore in 878. This led to an uneasy peace and the establishment of the Danelaw, which gave the Danes about half of the country to the East. Alfred left a number of defensive sites in our area including ones at Kenardington Newenden Penhurst and Pevensey .
The house of Wessex continued to expand their frontiers, and in 937 Athelstan achieved a decisive victory at Brunanburgh, when a coalition of Irish, Norse, Scots and Northumbrians were defeated.

In 954 king Eadred defeated Eric Bloodaxe who was driven out of York and killed at Stainmoor. Edgar who came to the throne in 959 spent the next 17 years of his reign trying to weld the states of Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex into a single body. This is the time that the English state was formed.

During the reign of Aethelred the Unready (978-1016) the Viking attacks on England started again. In the 980’s the Vikings raided the Welsh coast and south-west England. At the same time attacks on London and the south-east began from the North Sea and Scandinavia. In the 990’s the great armies of Norway and Sweden under the leadership of Olaf (later King of Norway) and Svein ( King of Denmark) attacked.

The Viking onslaught came mainly from King Svein of Denmark from 1003 to 1006 , with Thorkell the Tall campaigning in the south and east between 1009 and 1013. Svein returned in 1013 and at Gainsborough he became King of Northumbria, towards the end of the year the last Wessex resistance failed and Swein was made King of England and Aethelred fled to Normandy.

In 1014 Svein died, and Canute took his father throne both in England and in Denmark, however Edmund the son of Aethelred came back and took back the South. In 1016 Edmund died, and the land reverted to Canute. On Canute's death in 1035, the kingdom was inherited by his son Hardicanute, but he was unable to take control as he was fighting Magnus of Norway in Denmark, so Canute's half brother Harald took over. Harald died in 1040 and at last Hardicanute inherited the throne. Finally Hardicanute died in 1042, and the house of Wessex was restored to power in the hands of Edward the Confessor .

During this time the family of Earl Godwin came to power from obscure origins in Sussex. The family rose in two generations to the pinnacle of power in England. A turning point in the family’s fortunes was the marriage in 1043 of Godwin’s daughter Edith to King Edward the Confessor .

The next step of this story is told on our 1066 pages.
Language

Anglo Saxon Words which have influenced village names in the area.

Modern Explanation

broad From the word bred meaning wide

brook From the word broka meaning a stream or marsh

borough From the word burh meaning fortress

burgh From the word burh meaning fortress

bury From the word burh meaning fortress

den A village suffix from the original denbera, meaning a large clearing in the forest, or a swine pasture.

dene From the original denbera, meaning a large clearing in the forest, or a swine pasture.

ew A village prefix meaning yew(tree)

ey A village suffix from Ie meaning Island

field A village suffix from the original feld, meaning a large clearing in the forest.

hart meaning deer.

ham A village suffix meaning enclosure.

heath From the original ethe, meaning a patch of heath land in the forest.

herst A village suffix meaning thick wood

hurst A village suffix meaning thick wood

ing Meaning of

ly A village suffix from the original leagh, meaning a clearing in the forest.

ley A village suffix from the original leagh, meaning a clearing in the forest.

leigh A village suffix from the original leagh, meaning a clearing in the forest.

mare A village prefix from the original mere, meaning a marsh or pool.

sale A village prefix, a corruption of the word sealh meaning willow(tree).

shire A governable area

stede A place, a spot or locality

tice A village prefix, the word for kids(goats)

ton A village suffix meaning homestead

town A village suffix meaning homestead

walda the name for woody ground

weald From the Roman the forest of Anderida , which was turned into Andred Wold, then Andreadsweald, finally Weald. (This was a forest covering a large part of Southern Kent and East Sussex.)

ye A village suffix from Ie meaning Island

Alciston (Fifty thousand tiles on the Barn)

Alfriston (Smuggling and Ghosts)

Arlington (Peaceful Village and hectic Stadium)

Ashburnham (Last Iron Furnace in Sussex)

Ashurst (Miraculous Carving)

Beddingham (At the base of Mount Caburn)

Berwick (Sharpen your arrows on the Church)

Bishopstone (Largest Tide-Mill in Sussex)

Boreham Street (Picturesque village on top of the Ridge)

Brenzett (St Eanswyth a saxon princess)

Cade Street (Jack Cade and the Kentish rebellion)

Catsfield (Iron, Railways and Clocks)

Chiddingly (Walking on Cheese ??)

Chiddingstone (A perfect Tudor village)

Danehill (Stopping point between London and Lewes)

Denton (Earl Godwins Manor)

East Blatchington (Mutiny and the Edge of Space)

East Dean (Fishing and Wrecking)

Ewhurst Green (Great Fire of London contributions)

Exceat (Alfred the Great's Naval Base?)

Fletching (Simon de Montfort and Jack Cade)

Frittenden (The Search for the Treacle Mines)

Glynde (Home of English Opera)

Guestling (Changing guards at Buckingham Palace)

Hadlow (Mays Folly - 150ft tower)

Hailsham (Ropes and Napoleon)

Hamsey (Abandoned Saxon Island)

Hamstreet & Orlestone (The Start of the Ordnance Survey)

Headcorn (King Johns Oak)

Herstmonceux (Castle and Observatory)

Hooe (The Haunt of Smugglers)

Ivychurch (The burial ground on the Island)

Jevington (Smugglers and Churchill Tanks)

Kenardington (Danes destroy Saxon Fort)

Lamberhurst (Scotney Castle and Gardens)

Laughton (Knight captures King of France)

Litlington (Secret marriage of George IV)

Maresfield (Soldiers and Iron)

Matfield (Largest Village Green in Kent)

Mayfield (Saint Dunstan and the Devil)

Nutley (Edward III and the Post Mill)

Old Winchelsea (Abandoned after the Great Storm)

Pembury (The ghost of Hawkwell)

Penhurst (Beautiful yet Remote)

Pevensey (Ancient Roman Fortification)

Reading Street & Ebony (Priory and Shipbuilding)

Ruckinge (Smuggling and Traction Engines)

Salehurst (Richard the Lion Heart's Gift)

Seaford (The cormorants or shags)

Sedlescombe (Best gunpowder in Europe)

Sevington (Saxons and Dual Carriageway)

Smeeth (The Scott Family)

Speldhurst (Nobleman captured at Agincourt)

Staplecross (Mothers grudge hangs son)

Staplehurst (Charles Dickens train crash)

St Mary in the Marsh (Ancient Celts)

Sutton Valence (seized from Simon de Montfort)

Ticehurst (Anne Boleyn and Pashley Manor)

Udimore (Angels move the Church)

Wadhurst (Last bare fisted Prize-Fight in England)

Waldron (Fullers Earth)

Warehorne (A good place to explore the Marshes)

Wartling (World War II defence centre)

West Dean (Alfred the Great's Palace)

Westham (Enclosure for the Castle)

Wilmington (The Long Man)

Yalding (longest medieval bridge in Kent)