893 / 894 the Danish Pirates wintered in Chester
Anglo Saxon Chronicle
( English Historical Documents)
Abridged Version
893 - 894:- This year, that was twelve months after the Danes had built the fortress in the eastern
kingdom , the Northumbrians and East Angles had given King Alfred oaths. yet contrary to those pledges, Danish
armies often went out in full force. King Alfred collected his army and advanced to take up a position between
the two enemy forces. The Northumbrians and East Anglians gathered in small bands and mounted companies travelling
along the Weald by what ever side was undefended by the English army. A battle ensued in Farnham the Danes had
collected booty which they wished to carry across the Thames to Essex . The Danes who lived in Northumbria and
East Anglia collected some 100 ships to besiege a fortress on the north coast of Devon, those that had gone south
besieged Exeter.
When the king heard this , he turned west towards Exeter with his whole army, except for a small portion who continued
eastwards, they went on till they reached London then with citizens and reinforcements from the west, they went
east to Benfleet, Haesten had previously built the fortress at Benfleet; and he was then out on a raid and the
large army was at home . Then the English went there and put the enemy to flight, stormed the fortress and captured
it . Haesten's wife and two sons were brought to the king and given back to him, one was his godson the other the
godson of the Ealdorman Ethelred . When the king had turned west with the army towards Exeter, as I have said before,
and the Danish had laid siege to the borough, the Danish went to their ships as soon as the king arrived, two Danish
armies were assembled at Shoebury in Essex, and made a fortress there, they went together up along the Thames with
reinforcements from Northumbrians and East Angles.
Then Ealdorman Ethelred and Ealdorman Ethelhelm and Ealdorman Ethelnoth and the king's thegns who then were at
home at the fortresses assembled from every borough east of the Parret, and both west and east of Selwood, and
also north of the Thames and west of the Severn, and also some portion of the Welsh people. When they were all
assembled, they overtook the Danish army at Buttington on the bank of the Severn, and besieged it. Then when they
had encamped for many weeks on the two sides of the river, and the king was occupied in the west in Devon against
the naval force, the besieged were oppressed by famine, and had eaten the greater part of their horses and the
rest had died of starvation . They came out against the men who were encamped on the east side of the river, and
fought against them, and the Christians had their victory, and the king's thegn Ordheah and also many other king's
thegns were killed and a very great slaughter of the Danes was made, and the part that escaped were saved by flight.
When they came to Essex to their fortress and their ships , the survivors collected again before winter a large
army from the East Angles and Northumbrians placed their women and ships and property in safety in east Anglia,
and went continuously by day and night till they reached a deserted city in the Wirral which is called Chester.Then the English army could not overtake them before they were inside the fortress. However,
they besieged the fortress for some two days, and seized all the cattle that was outside the fortress, and burnt
all the corn or consumed it by means of their horses, the Danish army fled into Wales from the Wirral, returning
to Northumbria and East Anglia and on to Essex and an island called Mersea which is out in the sea.
