BattlefieldsBattle of Acleah
Early Medieval

Battle of Acleah

851
Kent, England
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Kent, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Danes / Vikings
Forces
Danish heathen host c. 3,000-4,500.
VS
Victor
Wessex (Aethelwulf)
Forces
Wessex army c. 3,000-5,000
Outcome
West Saxon victory; largest Danish force defeated in England to that date
The Battle

History & Significance

King Aethelwulf of Wessex won what the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls "the greatest slaughter of a heathen host" to that date. The Danes had sacked Canterbury and London that same year. The victory at Acleah (possibly Oakley in Surrey) temporarily checked Danish raiding in the south.

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