INTRODUCTION

THE DANISH INVASIONS

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The first impact of the Danish invaders on Somerset came in 845, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that 'Alderman Eanuif with the men of Somerset and Bishop Ealhstan and the Alderman Osric with the men of Dorset fought at the mouth of the Parrett against the Danish army and there made great slaughter and gained the victory'. After this Somerset remained outside the region of Danish attacks until 878. While King Alfred was in winter quarters at Chippenham, the Danes suddenly attacked from their camp at Exeter, and defeated and dispersed the English forces, The Chronicle says that they all submitted except Alfred, who retired to the 'woods and moor-fastnesses'. This refers to Athelney, where, on a small area of rising ground in the marshes near the junction of the Rivers Tone and Parrett, he had an inaccessible and secure stronghold. From here he was able to engage Danish raiding parties and, after seven weeks, was strong enough to begin operations against the main Danish army. Near Selwood, on the eastern boundary of the county he gathered a force composed of the men of Somerset and Wiltshire, with some from Hampshire, and defeated the Danes at Edington, about 15 miles from their camp at Chippenham, This victory was the decisive battle of the war, The Danes were forced to agree to the Peace of Wedmore, and Somerset was secured from further attack, King Guthrum and 30 of his chief men came peacefully to meet Alfred at Aller, near Athelney, where Guthrum was baptised. The battle is commemorated in the motto on the arms of the County, adopted in 1911, 'Sumorsaete ealle'all the men of Somerset which is taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and indicates the wholehearted support given to Alfred in his struggle to save Wessex.

Alfred's successor, Edward, planned a defence system of 'burhs'. These were towns situated at harbours or near bridges on tidal rivers, which were defended with an earthen bank and ditch as a protection against Danish attacks from the sea. The fortified area was large enough to provide a refuge for people in the surrounding district, In Somerset these burhs were Axbridge, Bath, Langport and Lyng; but other towns, such as Crewkerne, Milborne Port, South Petherton and Taunton, probably also came within the defensive plan.

For nearly a century after this there was peace, though the Danes seem to have used the islands of Flatholm and Steepholm in the Bristol Channel as bases for minor raids. In 988, Watchet was attacked, plundered and burnt; and again in 997, 'great evil in burning and manslaying was wrought' there.

Sketch of the Alfred Jewel

The payment of Danegeld, the tax raised to buy off the invaders, brought peace. It has also meant that many of the surviving Saxon coins from Somerset mints are in Scandinavian museums. The silver pennies of that time bear the name of the mint and the moneyer, the man who kept the dies and struck the coins, as well as the head of the reigning monarch. A mint required the protection of a burh or fortified town, and in Somerset there were mints at Axbridge, Bath, Bruton, Cadbury, Crewkerne, llchester, Langport, Milborne Port, South Petherton, Taunton and Watchet. For a short period during the reign of Ethelred II, the Unready, the Iron Age hill-fort at South Cadbury was used as an emergency mint for Bruton and, perhaps, Crewkerne and llchester. Replicas of these coins, which provide an interesting subject for further study, can be seen at the County Museum.