Alfred's Castle
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Alfred's Castle
Alfred's Castle is a small Iron Age hill fort, situated at , behind Ashdown Park in the civil parish of Ashbury in Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire). It lies 2–3 km south of the Ridgeway and is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It has a large enclosure attached that shows as a cropmark. Excavation has shown this to be contemporary with the small enclosure, started in the 6th century BC. The hill fort was established within a series of late Bronze Age linear ditches and revealed much evidence for occupation within it. In the late 1st century, a Romano-British farmhouse was built within the abandoned prehistoric enclosure. King Alfred won a great victory against the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown, in AD 871. Being located just to the west of Ashdown House, Victorian antiquaries associated Alfred's Castle with the King's troop movements before the battle. The exact site of Alfred's battle has not yet been determined, however, so is a matter for debate. The most ...
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Ashbury, Oxfordshire
Ashbury is a village and large civil parish at the upper end (west) of the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is centred east of Swindon in neighbouring Wiltshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Idstone and Kingstone Winslow. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 506. Geography The parish rises from an alluvial plain in the north to an escarpment in the south. Soils are shallow on the chalkland of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the southern part of the parish. Five small tributaries of the north-flowing Cole rise in the central strip of the parish and flow northwards. Archaeology The Neolithic burial site of Wayland's Smithy is in the parish east of the village. History The earliest known record of Ashbury is from 840, when King Æthelwulf of Wessex granted land at ''Aisshedoune'' to his minister Duda. In subsequent charters the toponym ev ...
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Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9–22. They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, North Africa, Volga Bulgaria, the Middle East, and Greenland, North America. In some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age, and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a collective whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on the Early Middle Ages, early medieval history of Scandinavia, the History of the British Isles, British Isles, France in the Middle Ages, France, Viking Age in Estonia, Estonia, and Kievan Rus'. Expert sailors and navigators aboard their characteristic longships, Vikings established Norse settlem ...
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Tourist Attractions In Oxfordshire
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (other), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (other), tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be Domestic tourism, domestic (within the traveller's own country) or International tourism, international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Tourism numbers declined as a result of a strong economic slowdown (the late-2000s recession) between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and in consequence of t ...
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Roman Villas In Oxfordshire
Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter in the New Testament of the Christian Bible Roman or Romans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *Romans (band), a Japanese pop group * ''Roman'' (album), by Sound Horizon, 2006 * ''Roman'' (EP), by Teen Top, 2011 *" Roman (My Dear Boy)", a 2004 single by Morning Musume Film and television *Film Roman, an American animation studio * ''Roman'' (film), a 2006 American suspense-horror film * ''Romans'' (2013 film), an Indian Malayalam comedy film * ''Romans'' (2017 film), a British drama film * ''The Romans'' (''Doctor Who''), a serial in British TV series People *Roman (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters *Roman (surname), including a list of people named Roman or Romans *Ῥωμαῠ...
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Hill Forts In Oxfordshire
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as tall, or as steep as a mountain. Geographers historically regarded mountains as hills greater than above sea level, which formed the basis of the plot of the 1995 film ''The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain''. In contrast, hillwalkers have tended to regard mountains as peaks above sea level. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' also suggests a limit of and Whittow states "Some authorities regard eminences above as mountains, those below being referred to as hills." Today, a mountain is usually defined in the UK and Ireland as any summit at least high, while the official UK government's definition of a mountain is a summit of or higher. Some definitions include a topographical prominence requirement, typically or ...
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List Of Hillforts In Wales
This is a list of hillforts in Wales. Anglesey *Bwrdd Arthur, Din Sylwy (Bwrdd Arthur) (), contour fort *Caer Idris Hillfort (), promontory fort *Caer y Twr (), partial contour fort *Dinas Gynfor (), promontory fort *Dinas Porth Ruffydd (), promontory fort *Mynydd Llwydiarth (Anglesey), Mynydd Llwydiarth (), promontory fort *Parciau hill fort (), promontory fort *Tan-y-graig, Llanffinan (), contour fort *Twyn-y-Parc (), promontory fort *Y Werthyr hillfort (), marsh fort *Y Werthyr, Llanddeusant (), contour fort *Ynys-y-Fydlyn (), promontory fort Bridgend County Borough *Cae Summerhouse Camp (), partial contour fort *Chapel Hill Camp, Merthyr Mawr House (), contour fort *Coed-y-Mwstwr (), contour fort *Cwm Llwyd (), partial contour fort *Mynydd Twmpathyddaer (), contour fort *Mynydd y Gaer hillfort, Mynydd y Gaer (), partial contour fort *Pen y Castell, Kenfig Hill (), contour fort *Y Bwlwarcau (), multiple enclosure hillfort *Y Bwlwarcau, Eastern Enclosure (), hillslope fort ...
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List Of Hillforts In Scotland
This article lists a few selected examples of hill forts in Scotland. The remains of at least 1,695 hillforts have been counted throughout the country as a whole, most predominantly on the Scottish mainland, and also including on some of the Scottish islands. One of the highest concentrations of historic hillforts in Europe, according to the Trimontium Trust, is in the Scottish Borders, including particularly in the historic county of Berwickshire. Hill forts in Scotland typically date from the Bronze and Iron Ages, but post-Roman inhabitation of many sites is also important. The remains today typically survive only as earthworks with occasional traces of structural stone in varying quantity. Remains of vitrified forts are also found throughout Scotland. __NOTOC__ Aberdeenshire * Bennachie * Dunnicaer * Dunnideer * Tap o' Noth Angus * The Caterthuns Argyll and Bute * An Caisteal, Coll * Dùn Cholla, Colonsay * Dùn Dubh, Coll * Dùn Eibhinn, Colonsay * Dùn M ...
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List Of Hillforts In England
See also * List of hill forts in Scotland * List of hill forts in Wales *Iron Age, British Iron Age, prehistory References ;Bibliography * Further reading * * * External links * A crowd-sourced project to map the hillforts of Britain and Ireland. {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Hill Forts In England List of hill forts Iron Age sites in England Hill forts England Hill forts A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Rom ...
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Aldworth
Aldworth is a village and mainly farmland Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English county of Berkshire, near the boundary with Oxfordshire. Orthography and slight change of name Aldworth was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 by scribes whose orthography was heavily geared towards French, lacking k and w, regulated forms for sounds ð and θ and ending many hard consonant words with e, as ''Elleorde'', hinting at El(d)ward, the Old English language, Old English for ''Old Ward'' i.e. ''Old farmed out (let) land''. Scribes in the 12th century rendered it at least once as ''Aldewurda''. Geography Aldworth is in a rural area between Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury and Streatley, Berkshire, Streatley. It includes the hamlet (place), hamlet of Westridge Green. It lies on the high ground of the North Wessex Downs AONB, Berkshire Downs, just off the B4009 road between Newbury and Streatley. The Ridgeway, an 87-mile (140 km) pre-Roman ...
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Compton, Berkshire
Compton is a village and civil parish in the River Pang valley in the Berkshire Downs about south of Didcot which is buffered from neighbouring settlements by cultivated fields to all sides. The village is in a gently-sloped dry valley and the fledgling Pang seasonally enters from the north west and discharges in the south east and may be joined at the centre of the village by the Roden from the North, when winter bournes rise to fill their channels. Elevations vary from 95 to 155m AOD. Parish church The bell tower of the Church of England parish church of Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas was built in the 13th centuryPevsner, 1965, page 120 and has Perpendicular Gothic features that were added in the 15th century.Page & Ditchfield, 1925, pages 15-21 In 1850 the nave and chancel were modernised or rebuilt and in 1905 the Gothic Revival architect John Oldrid Scott added the north aisle. Transport Former railway In 1882 the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway was completed thr ...
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Antiquary
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifacts, History of archaeology, archaeological and historic Archaeological site, sites, or historic archives and manuscripts. The essence of antiquarianism is a focus on the empirical evidence of the past, and is perhaps best encapsulated in the motto adopted by the 18th-century antiquary Sir Richard Hoare, 2nd Baronet, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, "We speak from facts, not theory." The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' first cites "archaeologist" from 1824; this soon took over as the usual term for one major branch of antiquarian activity. "Archaeology", from 1607 onwards, initially meant what is now seen as "ancient history" generally, with the narrower modern sense first seen in 1837. Today the term "antiquarian" is often used in a pejorative sense ...
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Battle Of Ashdown
The Battle of Ashdown, was a West Saxon victory over a Danish Viking army on about 8 January 871. The location of Ashdown is not known, but may be Kingstanding Hill in Berkshire. Other writers place the battle near Starveall, a short distance north of the village of Aldworth and south east of Lowbury Hill. The West Saxons were led by King Æthelred and his younger brother, the future King Alfred the Great, while the Viking commanders were Bagsecg and Halfdan. The battle is described in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' and Asser's ''Life of King Alfred''. Prelude By 870, the Vikings had conquered two of the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Northumbria and East Anglia. At the end of 870 they launched an attempt to conquer Wessex and marched from East Anglia to Reading, arriving on about 28 December. Three days after their arrival they sent out a large foraging party, which was defeated by an army of local levies under the command of Æthelwulf, Ealdorman of Berkshire, at the Battle of En ...
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