The Impact of the Vikings on Churches in Wessex

Hampshire and its neighbouring counties of Berkshire and Wiltshire were at the core of West Saxon Wessex when the Viking raids swept through. The emerging Christian churches were attacked and the fragile shoots of the new religion stamped upon.

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Wherwell Abbey

The quintessentially English village of Wherwell has played an important part in the history of the county of Hampshire, hidden beneath its meadows is the Abbey of Wherwell, established in the C10th century as a form of penance by Queen Elfrida

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King Alfred’s Navy

King Alfred left many enduring marks on the county of Hampshire and England. One of his legacies is that of a navy. He designed ships to out do the Danish ships that threatened the southern coast of England.

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King Sigebert – The Usurper

Sigebert ruled for one year, as King of Wessex, before losing his position on account of ‘wrong doings’. The importance to Hampshire history of this event is that its record in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle is the first time Hampshire is recorded as a separate entity.

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Vikings Move Against Wessex

Alfred held out against the Viking invasion and showed great skills in organizing his militia, so that when the opportunity to crush the Danish attack, he did so, decisively and coherently at the Battle of Edington

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Earl Godwin of Wessex

Earl Godwine of Wessex was one of the most powerful men in England before the Norman Conquest, the father of 5 Earls, father to the Queen of England and father-in-law to the King. Father to King Harold II. Quite an achievement for a man who died before he was sixty years old

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The Shaftsbury Bowl

The Shaftsbury Bowl, the only complete piece of late Saxon glass in England, can be found in Winchester Cathedral museum

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Saxon Sundials

Possibly the best preserved Saxon Tide Dial in England, the Corhampton dial shows the eight ‘tides’ of the day

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